History Corner - The Taming of the Tiger

Forty years ago, there was a turning point in the management of Tiger Mountain. Reckless behavior on the mountain had reached the point the Issaquah Press published an editorial entitled “The Tiger must be tamed.” Here is an abridged snapshot of the editorial with the first two paragraphs to capture the general tone:

The Issaquah Press, November 4, 1981. (Courtesy the Issaquah History Museums)

Happily, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources was up to the challenge, and announced a bold plan the following week. The Press covered the announcement under an encouraging headline:

The Issaquah Press, November 11, 1981. (Courtesy the Issaquah History Museums)

The DNR proposed to create a 13,500-acre Tiger Mountain State Forest, which the IATC had been advocating for years.

To guide this process, the DNR established the Tiger Mountain State Forest Advisory Committee. The stalwart voices-of-advocacy of the IATC had apparently been noticed by the DNR as 5 of the 18-member committee had club affiliations (Harvey Manning, Thomas Mechler, Ruth Kees, Bill Longwell and Laurene McLane). The Issaquah Press reported the formation of the committee in the following April (abridged for brevity):

The Issaquah Press, April 4, 1982. (Courtesy the Issaquah History Museums)

Today we enjoy the fruits of the labors of those citizen advocates and DNR visionaries. Something to think about as we enjoy the trails of Tiger Mountain.

At that point in time the club had only been in existence for three years, but the modus operandi of advocacy for our public lands was well established (under the leadership of our President Harvey Manning).

That legacy continues, but our work is never done. New challenges are always on the horizon, and we hear the voice of Harvey rallying us with words he liked to quote:

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends.”