Residents of isolated Stehekin Valley, Wash.,
population 70, believe their community is frozen in time, and they
want to keep it that way. On the northeast end of Lake Chelan,
bordering North Cascades National Park and within the Lake Chelan
Recreation Area, the town features a post office, hotel and bakery.
But there are no roads and a ferry or a float plane is needed to
get you into town. Then this August, local landowners William and
Patricia Stifter acquired a permit to build 13 condos and a tramway
on a spot known as Logger’s Point. Stehekin resident Carolyn
McConnell says this project would “undermine forever the special
character of the Stehekin community” by setting off more
development. She and other locals have formed a group, Stehekin
Alert, to fight the development. Members are also urging the Park
Service to buy Logger’s Point and incorporate it into the
recreation area.
For more information, contact
Stehekin Alert, P.O. Box 303, Stehekin, WA 98852 (510/444-7215); or
Superintendent William Paleck at North Cascades National Park,
360/856-5700.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The more remote, the better.
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