Forest Service warns summer closures and slide damage will reroute traffic; sheriff urges coordinated response

Skamania County commissioners met with U.S. Forest Service supervisors on May 6, 2025, to discuss access problems caused by a slide at Crab Creek and summer bridge work that will reroute visitors onto lower‑maintenance roads, creating public‑safety and search‑and‑rescue concerns.

The issue drew sharp questions from Summer, the county sheriff, who said emergency response capacity would suffer if traffic is rerouted onto roads with lower maintenance levels. "Are they prepared to handle the amount of traffic? Because the sheriff's office will not respond," Summer said during the meeting.

Forest Supervisor Johanna Calvert said engineers are evaluating short‑term fixes and that the Forest Service would provide maps and more detail about the reroute plan. "We can get some additional information for you from our engineers in terms of our plans for the reroute," Calvert told the board. She also noted ongoing closures tied to other forest projects, including intake replacement work at Spirit Lake.

Teresa Tanner, district ranger for the Golds Valley Ranger District, confirmed the Hatbaker Bridge will be closed this summer for a full replacement and described alternate routes that will be available, though she cautioned those alternatives are lower‑maintenance and may be difficult for large or trailer vehicles. "There will be stretches of the 25 open between those 2 closure areas, and there are, alternative routes... it is a little tougher for especially oversized vehicles like RVs," Tanner said.

County and Forest Service officials agreed to coordinate public messaging and maps for motorists, posting signage at key locations and using variable message boards. Johanna Calvert said she would pull engineer plans together and send them to county staff; Sheriff Summer requested copies for emergency planners and suggested additional signage at Morton and Randall and multilingual notices.

The board also scheduled a follow‑up meeting involving public‑safety partners, Forest Service engineers and regional dispatch to review staging, response times, and whether equipment needs to be staged nearer the affected corridors.

The conversation underscored that planned work — including an anticipated September timeline for a more permanent fix on sections of the 90/25 corridor — will require multi‑agency coordination to manage visitor traffic and preserve emergency response times.

County and Forest Service staff said they will provide the county with reroute maps and engineered plans before the next coordination meeting.