2021 Stephen Mather Wilderness Projects Announced

U.S. National Park Service issued the following announcement on June 3. 

Four projects are planned during the 2021 summer season in the Stephen Mather Wilderness to resupply a remote fire lookout tower, deliver supplies for trail/revegetation projects, deliver materials for a bat gate for a historic mine entrance, and remove steel beams from a washed-out bridge. These activities have been reviewed and vetted through an interdisciplinary team of park technical experts to minimize potential impacts to wilderness character and other resource values. Diablo Overlook will be closed on June 14, 2021, to provide a safe staging area for operations.  

Due to the remote locations and types of supplies and materials needed, the projects will include helicopter flights. Projects flights have been combined when possible, to reduce the number of flights needed to accomplish the work. All flights are weather-dependent, so dates may shift by several days to accommodate weather changes. Changes to the closure date will be posted on the park website at nps.gov/noca and on North Cascades National Park Service Complex | Facebook 

Approximately seven flights into the wilderness will be required to complete the planned work to: 

• Deliver materials for trail projects 
• Transport a metal, bat-friendly gate to a remote closed mine 
• Remove large steel I-beams from a washed-out bridge near the McCallister hiker campsite 

There are no long-term trail closures planned during these projects, however visitor access may be temporarily restricted at project sites during flight operations. All flights are subject to last minute schedule changes due to weather and emergency incidents.  

Original source can be found here.