Below is an email from a concerned hiker:
Hello Sarah Perry, King County Council Member,
I was provided your name as a person I should contact regarding concerns of a tent encampment at Tiger Mountain state park. I was told this area is in your jurisdiction. As mentioned in my email below to the DNR, I have concerns with this encampment, most notably safe and unencumbered access for hikers.
I have several questions:
1. Has this encampment been approved by King County?
2. If so, has it been permitted through whatever processes are required?
3. Can you please forward me a copy of the permit if there is one?
4. Why has the county approved a homeless tent encampment on public land used for recreational purposes? Why not stipulate it needs to be on private land, where it was previously located?
I’d sure appreciate the opportunity to speak with you on the phone, as your schedule allows. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Concerned Constituent
Begin forwarded message:
To: DNR RE SOUTHPUGET REGION <southpuget.region@dnr.wa.gov>
Subject: Tiger Mt tent encampment
Hello DNR,
Thanks for your responses. I’d like to ask if you could elevate this within the DNR to a decision maker who is knowledgeable of the situation. I am asking for DNR support to remove the encampment. A little more detail might be in order to understand my request.
I’ve been told the road where the encampment sits is county owned, with the adjacent land being DNR owned. To access all east side trails of Tiger Mt, you need to pass through the encampment. There is no other option. I can only imagine this has effectively closed down all of those trails because hikers won’t want to contend with what the encampment represents.
I used to use the east frequently but don’t feel comfortable passing through now. There is a guard standing at the entrance of the encampment for who knows what reason. Nothing about the blue tarps, porta-potties, junk cars and dumpsters instill any confidence of safety for hikers who choose the east side. And it certainly isn’t becoming of an entry to publicly accessible DNR land.
Interestingly I also spoke to a DNR survey crew last summer (pre-encampment) at this location. There is a proposed land use action sign posted, and I asked what they were working on. I was told they were surveying for a new parking lot to be placed where the access road is located. I guess that begs the question why was DNR surveying on King county property? Is there a planned parking lot in the works as I was told, and if so, who will be paying for it? Will the encampment be allowed to stay?
Looking forward to hearing further from the DNR regarding your stance on the encampment and how it impacts public access and safety for DNR land.
Sincerely,
Concerned Hiker
1 Comment
CINDY DRUSCHBA · February 16, 2022 at 10:17 pm
This is an announcement below I saw in a e-mail in November about the unfortunate people who had to relocate to Tiger Mtn this winter . See how this group is described. I think they should be the first ones into the Redmond Hotel. If King County doesn;t want rules of behavior it appears this group has much higher values and could be good neighbors.
I’m willing to arrange a a date and time where we I mean some of you arrange to deliver and serve a warm meal to this group so we can meet them.
“Host needed for Tent City 4, a self managed high barrier encampment
Temple B’nai Torah in Bellevue has been hosting Tent City 4 for the past nine months. Their permit, which was extended twice, runs out on October 31. At that time Tent City residents, who have no other host, will be forced to move to the Highpoint exit under I-90. Temple B’nai Torah has built an incredible bond with the residents of TC4 and are desperate to find a better solution as the punishing winter months approach. Many of TC4’s residents are elderly and will not survive the winter without basic services like running water and regular meals. Would your own faith community consider hosting? ” Well nobody hosted and they had to move there. I wonder how miserable they were when we got all that snow in late December 2021.
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