Hoh Rain Forest could reopen in May with new road repair plan
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The Hall of Mosses Trail in the Hoh Rain Forest. Photo: VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Washington state is providing more than $600,000 to help repair the lone access road to the Hoh Rain Forest, which officials say should allow the popular area of Olympic National Park to reopen sometime in May.
Why it matters: An estimated 460,000 people visited the Hoh area of the national park last year, making the road repair vital for nearby communities — not to mention tens of thousands of nature-seeking tourists.
- The National Park Service has closed the rainforest indefinitely until the road can be fixed.
The latest: Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Thursday that he is directing $623,000 in state emergency funds to help repair the Upper Hoh Road, which was washed out by heavy rainfall in December.
- Local businesses and individuals have also raised about $27,000 toward the repairs, Ferguson said.
- That private investment is necessary for the governor to tap a specific state emergency fund focused on economic development, he said.
Catch up quick: Officials in Jefferson County, which maintains the road, told Axios this month that they didn't have the money to complete the emergency repairs on their own and had been unsuccessful in securing funding from the federal government, as they have for similar repairs in the past.
What they're saying: "The Hoh Rain Forest is a critical driver of tourism in the Olympic Peninsula," Ferguson said at a press conference Thursday.
- "We cannot allow access to remain closed during the peak visitor season," sacrificing "tourism dollars that rural communities rely on," the governor said.
The fine print: Eric Kuzma, the assistant public works director in Jefferson County, told Axios that the combined state and private funds "should be adequate to just restore access" along the Upper Hoh Road.
- The emergency repairs are estimated to take about a month once funding and necessary permits are in hand.
- That should allow the road — and access to the rainforest — to reopen sometime in May, before the busy summer tourist season, Heidi Eisenhour, a Jefferson County commissioner, said at Thursday's press conference.
Between the lines: Kuzma said additional funds will be needed to complete some aspects of the road project, such as permitting and environmental mitigation, as well as repairing another road by Olympic National Park that remains closed from December storm damage.
What's next: Ferguson also amended former Gov. Jay Inslee's emergency declaration for November's bomb cyclone to include Jefferson and Clallam counties.
- That could open up federal funding options that could be used to reimburse the state for its investment or to help the counties complete additional repairs.