After years of closure, a beloved Upper County, Wash., campground is open again for recreationists, according to the Daily Record.
The Wish Poosh Campground is finally up and running again, although with limited services. Nancy Jones, of the Cle Elum Ranger District, said the facility reopened on June 28 to campers.
“The campground is open,” she said. “But due to some ongoing maintenance issues, their water system is not back online yet.”
As a result, Jones said the campground currently has no potable water and the permanent restroom facilities are closed. Portable toilets are on site to aid campers for now, and she estimates services to be up and running again by next season.
Due to the lack of services, fees this season are reduced for campers wishing to use one or more of the 34 sites at Wish Poosh.
Jones said the campground was closed in 2015 when root rot was discovered in various fir tree species on the site.
“Root rot was just causing the trees to fall over,” she said. “It was for public safety, and it took quite a bit of time to go through the legal process to be able to remove those trees.”
Because the land is federally owned, Jones said it was subject to the guidelines set forth in the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.
“You have to state a purpose and need, and then you have to go through the public comment process,” she said. “You also have to look at threatened and endangered species. It’s just a whole lot a different things you have to go through to get the final approval to do the removal of the trees. With Wish Poosh, it was kind of a long process.”
Once approval was granted, Jones said approximately 550 trees were removed from the site.
To read more click here.
