WA's underfunded avalanche centers struggle to keep up with growing threats
SEATTLE - As winter storms pound mountain passes across the Pacific Northwest, avalanche risk in the Cascades has risen sharply, with meteorologists at the Northwest Avalanche Center raising the warning to "high."
Areas like Stevens Pass and Snoqualmie Pass are particularly vulnerable, and with combined snow and wind.
Each winter, a small team of 11 scientists at NWAC is responsible for forecasting avalanche danger across these regions, including the Cascades, the Olympics, and Mount Hood. However, just weeks before the snow began to fall this year, there were serious concerns that this team would be reduced to only three meteorologists.
"How are we going to provide the services that are essential public safety services to the public with a really small skeleton crew?," said NWAC executive director Scott Shell.
The NWAC team plays a critical role in public safety, helping not only recreational skiers and backcountry adventurers, but also agencies like the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to decide when to shut down highways due to avalanche risk. Despite the growing responsibilities, Schell argues NWAC has been chronically underfunded.
"Our avalanche center is not a fully funded program," said Schell. "It's done on a shoestring budget, and it's an essential public safety program for tens of millions of people across the West."
As part of the U.S. Forest Service, the NWAC is reliant on federal funding.
While the center has three full-time meteorologists year-round, each winter, they hire eight additional seasonal workers to handle the increased workload. However, these positions were suddenly put at risk when the chief of the Forest Service announced a hiring freeze this fall.
"Well it’s, quite frankly, more expensive to do our work in today’s terms," said Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. "Not only do we have cost of living increases, we’re looking at the increased cost of doing business and all of that contributes to the budget at a time when it’s being reduced."
Across the United States, the Forest Service operates 14 avalanche centers, including the NWAC. But their resources are spread thin, with just $2.5 million in federal funding to divide between these centers.
"I don’t think the public understands how underfunded these programs actually are," said Shell stated.
It’s not just avalanche forecasting that’s facing challenges due to reduced funding. The Washington Trails Association (WTA), a key partner of the Forest Service for over 30 years, is also feeling the impact. WTA was originally founded by the Forest Service as a volunteer organization to help forge trails, remove brush, and maintain facilities like pit toilets. According to Jen Gradisher, as the Forest Service reduces staffing, vital trail maintenance will suffer.
"We are forecasting that with the Forest Service capacity and resources reduced, that will transfer down to partners like us," Gradisher explained. She noted that hikers will likely encounter messier trails, more debris, and possibly closed bathrooms, especially on less-traveled routes.
Gradisher argues Washington has over 9,000 miles of trails, and with Forest Service staffing cuts, these trails will face even greater challenges.
"As the reduction of staffing becomes a reality, those 9,000 miles of trail are realistically going to look different," said Gradisher.
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