Olympia – The State Department of Natural Resources announced Wednesday that four Washington state campgrounds will be closed for the rest of the year and several others will be partially closed following two consecutive years of funding cuts.
Three of those listed are in Clallam County.
The state Legislature has slashed roughly $8 million from the department’s recreation program. The decrease in funding means sites will be less maintained, storm recovery work will take longer and trailhead bathrooms won’t be stocked, according to the agency.
The campgrounds to close this year include the Upper Clearwater Campground in the Quinault Rainforest, which will close for the year on June 1. Two other campgrounds in Clallam County will either be temporarily closed. The Bear Creek Campground near Beaver will be closed from September 15 until April of next year, as will the Lyre River Campground in Joyce.
In addition to the campground closures, the agency lost a partnership with the Washington Conversation Corps, a statewide service program for young adults. That partnership has supported the equivalent of 70 additional field staff each year.
There are now only 60 field staff across the state. For every 21 miles of trail, 50,000 acres and 333,000 visitors, only one staff member exists.
Recreational site closure alerts and updates can be found on the Department of Natural Resources’ website.