I.
Introduction
The Mountain Loop Highway Visioning Process seeks to formulate a vision for sustainable recreation management in the Mountain Loop area of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (MBS NF) in the northern Cascades range of Western Washington. The collaborative effort was led by the USDA Forest Service (USFS) and Washington Trails Association (WTA), and included a planning team of community and regional partners. The Mountain Loop Highway Visioning Process sought to learn from a range of user groups, communities, and other stakeholders to envision a future state for recreation that reflects the values, desires, and concerns of wide range of people who are invested in the area. Throughout the Mountain Loop Visioning Process, USFS and WTA have drawn on the principles of sustainable recreation management, which seeks to provide ‘desirable outdoor opportunities for all people, in a way that supports ecosystems, contributes to healthy communities, promotes equitable economies, respects culture and traditions, and develops stewardship values now and for future generations’ (Cerveny et al., 2020, p. 10). To achieve these goals, we needed to learn from a wide range of people about their uses of and relationships with the area. In early 2020, USFS and WTA assembled a core group of 12 participants that included representatives from the MBS NF, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Washington Department of Natural Resources, and WTA. This core team then assembled an extended ‘cadre’ representing stakeholder organizations, including 15 groups that included conservation organizations, recreation user groups, historical preservation groups, nature centers, science organizations, city officials and community members. While the group originally intended to inform the visioning process through a series of in-person engagements in 2020, it shifted gears due to the COVID-19 pandemic and implemented the Mountain Loop Highway Visioning Survey. The online survey results presented in this report represent one way the group sought to inform its efforts. The purpose of the survey was to learn from the public about the activities, values, and places that are important to them in the area of the Mountain Loop Highway (Mountain Loop area), and the concerns and desires they have for the area in the future. The survey also sought to gather information about future access needs that would increase public enjoyment of the area. The survey was designed to encourage participation from a variety of people and took advantage of the extended network of the cadre to solicit responses from a wide variety of visitors, residents, and other stakeholders. This report shares a summary of results from the survey and is designed to assist the core and cadre groups with the on-going visioning effort.
a. The Mountain Loop area The Mountain Loop area is defined by the 55-mile Mountain Loop Highway, a National Scenic Byway designated in 1991. The area is accessed from Highway 92 leading along the Stillaguamish River from Granite Falls in the southwest or from Highway 530 along the Sauk River from Darrington in the northwest. These communities are ‘looped’ together by Forest Road 20, which is paved from the southwest through Barlow Pass and includes a 13-mile unpaved section (Figure 1). 5
