[FONT="]FYI.[/FONT]
[FONT="]“It will not be available for use during the 2011/12 winter recreation season and trail grooming will not take place south of Manastash Creek.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQoY6IeDdGCqCPOBqwDLG-AAjgb6fh75uan6BdnZaY6OiooA1tkqlQ!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfMjAwMDAwMDBBODBPSEhWTjJNMDAwMDAwMDA!/?navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=STELPRDB5339184&navid=180000000000000&pnavid=null&ss=110617&position=News&ttype=detail[/FONT]
[FONT="]Forest Service Road 3100, Manastash, to be Gated December 1, 2011[/FONT]
[FONT="]Release Date: Nov 10, 2011 Cle Elum, WA [/FONT]
[FONT="]Contact(s): Nancy Jones – Public Affairs Officer – (509) 852-1011 [/FONT]
[FONT="]As a result of ongoing vandalism to a temporary gate installed on Forest Service Road 3100, Manastash, Forest Service Road Managers have installed a permanent gate on FS Road 3100 between the end of the paved county road and Manastash Sno-Park. This gate will be closed and locked on December 1, 2011 and will remain closed until repairs to FS Road 3100 are completed in 2012.[/FONT]
[FONT="]FS Road 3100, Manastash sustained significant damage during the floods of May 2011. Forest Service Road Engineers closed the road under an official emergency closure order at milepost 1.5, a point commonly referred to as “the sno-park” due to this damage. A temporary gate was installed and was intended to be used only by a permanent resident who lives behind the gate and other private landowners whose property was accessible only via FS Road 3100.[/FONT]
[FONT="] “We do not close roads on a whim; both Federal and State Environmental Policies require us to do so when there is a threat to the environment” said District Ranger Judy Hallisey. “Due to the stream channel moving into the road bed there are significant threats of motor oil, grease, coolants and other toxic fluids being introduced into Manastash Creek by automobiles and snow mobiles traveling through or over what is now the stream bed” Hallisey said.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Manastash Sno-Park, which is on lands owned and administered by Washington State Department of Natural Resources and is accessed by Forest Service Road 3100 was destroyed by the floods in May as well. It will not be available for use during the 2011/12 winter recreation season and trail grooming will not take place south of Manastash Creek. Kittitas County Public Works will plow Manastash Road only to the end of the paved county road at Mitchell Road. Parking for winter recreation will not be available on Manastash Road.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The groomed trail system north of Manastash Creek can be accessed from the Taneum Sno-Park on Forest Service Road 3300 which will operate at full capacity this winter.[/FONT]
[FONT="]“It will not be available for use during the 2011/12 winter recreation season and trail grooming will not take place south of Manastash Creek.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQoY6IeDdGCqCPOBqwDLG-AAjgb6fh75uan6BdnZaY6OiooA1tkqlQ!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfMjAwMDAwMDBBODBPSEhWTjJNMDAwMDAwMDA!/?navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=STELPRDB5339184&navid=180000000000000&pnavid=null&ss=110617&position=News&ttype=detail[/FONT]
[FONT="]Forest Service Road 3100, Manastash, to be Gated December 1, 2011[/FONT]
[FONT="]Release Date: Nov 10, 2011 Cle Elum, WA [/FONT]
[FONT="]Contact(s): Nancy Jones – Public Affairs Officer – (509) 852-1011 [/FONT]
[FONT="]As a result of ongoing vandalism to a temporary gate installed on Forest Service Road 3100, Manastash, Forest Service Road Managers have installed a permanent gate on FS Road 3100 between the end of the paved county road and Manastash Sno-Park. This gate will be closed and locked on December 1, 2011 and will remain closed until repairs to FS Road 3100 are completed in 2012.[/FONT]
[FONT="]FS Road 3100, Manastash sustained significant damage during the floods of May 2011. Forest Service Road Engineers closed the road under an official emergency closure order at milepost 1.5, a point commonly referred to as “the sno-park” due to this damage. A temporary gate was installed and was intended to be used only by a permanent resident who lives behind the gate and other private landowners whose property was accessible only via FS Road 3100.[/FONT]
[FONT="] “We do not close roads on a whim; both Federal and State Environmental Policies require us to do so when there is a threat to the environment” said District Ranger Judy Hallisey. “Due to the stream channel moving into the road bed there are significant threats of motor oil, grease, coolants and other toxic fluids being introduced into Manastash Creek by automobiles and snow mobiles traveling through or over what is now the stream bed” Hallisey said.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Manastash Sno-Park, which is on lands owned and administered by Washington State Department of Natural Resources and is accessed by Forest Service Road 3100 was destroyed by the floods in May as well. It will not be available for use during the 2011/12 winter recreation season and trail grooming will not take place south of Manastash Creek. Kittitas County Public Works will plow Manastash Road only to the end of the paved county road at Mitchell Road. Parking for winter recreation will not be available on Manastash Road.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The groomed trail system north of Manastash Creek can be accessed from the Taneum Sno-Park on Forest Service Road 3300 which will operate at full capacity this winter.[/FONT]
