State parks failing at Palouse Falls, Lyons Ferry

Two years ago, Washington State Parks bureaucrats in Tumwater hatched a plan to address so-called “overcrowding” at Palouse Falls.

The plan was to close and relocate the campground to Lyons Ferry, require permits to visit Upper Palouse Falls and to end hiking and exploring in and around the main Palouse Falls basin. The effort also eliminated kayaking access on the upper Palouse River.

And to make the effort sound legitimate, those city-dwelling bureaucrats called Palouse Falls a “heritage” area and invited several tribes – some of which are not from the immediate area – to plan for the park’s...