WA avalanche centers are critically underfunded

SEATTLE – As winter storms batter mountain passes across the Pacific Northwest, avalanche risk in the Cascades has risen sharply, with meteorologists at the Northwest Avalanche Center raising the warning to “high.”

Areas such as Stevens Pass and Snoqualmie Pass are particularly vulnerable and with combined snow and wind.

Each winter, a small team of 11 scientists at NWAC is responsible for predicting avalanche danger across these regions, including the Cascades, the Olympics and Mount Hood. But just weeks before the snow began to fall this year, there were serious concerns that this team would be reduced to just three meteorologists.

“How are we going to deliver the services that are essential public safety services to the public with a really small skeleton crew?” said NWAC Executive Director Scott Shell.

The NWAC team plays a vital role in public safety, helping not only recreational skiers and adventurers, but also agencies like the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to decide when to close highways due to avalanche risk. Despite the growing responsibilities, Schell claims the NWAC has been chronically underfunded.

“Our avalanche center is not a fully funded program,” Schell said. “It’s done on a shoestring budget, and it’s an important public safety program for tens of millions of people across the West.”

As part of the US Forest Service, NWAC relies on federal funding.

While the center has three full-time meteorologists year-round, they hire eight additional seasonal workers each winter to handle the increased workload. However, these positions were suddenly put in jeopardy when the head of the Forest Service announced a hiring freeze in the autumn.

“Well, it’s frankly more expensive to do our job in today’s terms,” ​​Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said. “Not only do we have increased costs of living, we’re looking at increased costs of doing business and all of that adds to the budget at a time when it’s being reduced.”

Across the United States, the Forest Service operates 14 avalanche centers, including NWAC. But their resources are spread thin, with only $2.5 million in federal funding to distribute among these centers.

“I don’t think the public understands how underfunded these programs actually are,” Shell said.

It’s not just avalanche forecasters that face challenges due to reduced funding. The Washington Trails Association (WTA), a key partner of the Forest Service for over 30 years, is also feeling the impact. The WTA was originally founded by the Forest Service as a volunteer organization to help forge trails, remove brush and maintain facilities such as pit toilets. According to Jen Gradisher, as the Forest Service cuts staff, vital trail maintenance will suffer.

“We anticipate that with Forest Service capacity and resources reduced, it will be transferred to partners like us,” Gradisher explained. She noted that hikers are likely to encounter messier trails, more trash and possibly closed bathrooms, especially on less traveled routes.

Gradisher claims Washington has over 9,000 miles of trails, and with Forest Service staffing, those trails will face even greater challenges.

“As the reduction in staff becomes a reality, those 9,000 miles of track will realistically look different,” Gradisher said.

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