ISSAQUAH ALPS TRAILS CLUB
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Mission Statement
Our mission is conservation, education, and advocacy for the land, wildlife, and trails of the Issaquah Alps for present and future generations. We raise awareness around challenges facing our public lands through guided hikes and community education. We take action to make sure everyone can enjoy the trails, parks, and open spaces of the Issaquah Alps now and into the future.
About This Cause
The Issaquah Alps Trails Club (IATC) has always been more than a hiking club. From its earliest days, the club has been a voice for the protection of not only trails but the open spaces through which they run, achieving unprecedented victories with the creation of Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, West Tiger Natural Resources Conservation Area, Tiger Mountain State Forest and numerous parks, open spaces and county and state forests. The advocacy work of the club is ongoing, and takes many forms: - Protecting public open space and parks from improper use and the impacts of nearby development. - Negotiating and working with developers to secure trails and open space within their projects. - Working with public agencies and private landowners to secure more permanently protected parks and open spaces in the Issaquah Alps. - Supporting permanent acquisition of lands dedicated to sustainable forestry and agriculture. History In 1976 there were a number of trails within the area and some hikes were mentioned in guide books that were nearly all published by the Mountaineers. The parks on Cougar Mountain amounted to the site where the actual Nike missiles were located and the site where the actual radar station was located (maybe 30 acres in total?). Squak Mountain consisted of the 560 acre gift from Stimson Bullitt to the State of Washington. Tiger Mountain was a patchwork of private and public lands being clearcut at a rapid rate and a great place to run motorcycles, have mud runs, shoot up everything, abandon stolen cars and dump garbage (and worse!). It was also in 1976 that hiking guide author, conservationist and Cougar Mountain resident Harvey Manning came up with the outrageous name for the foothills surrounding Issaquah, "Issaquah Alps," which none of us could say with a straight face at that time. Harvey's writing about the Alps appeared in newspapers and newsletters of hiking and conservation groups. As it turned out there were a number of people that knew about trails and special places on Tiger, Squak and Cougar mountains and connected with Harvey to share information and figure out how to protect the trails and lands that were so important to each of them. Hikes were publicized in the local paper and discovery of the trail network, viewpoints, waterfalls and other special places were shared with the larger community. In 1979 the Issaquah Alps Club Trails Club was made official by the Secretary of State of the State of Washington. There had been various efforts to come up with a hiking route from Puget Sound to the Cascades, but the idea really took off when the club reversed the direction and promoted the "downhill" route from Snoqualmie Pass to Elliot Bay in 1990. The Mountains to Sound March was a huge success, but it left the club nearly broke and way in over our heads promoting a concept that covered an area several times larger than our "Alps." With the help of the top civic leaders in the region and leading elected officials we were saved by the formation of the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust. The IATC had plenty to do with the original Alps and promoting Grand Ridge, Taylor Mountain, Rattlesnake Mountain, Little Si and other adjoining areas. The club continues to deal with all these areas and continues to work on the protection and appropriate recreational opportunities in the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie and beyond.