LAPUSH — The Quileute Tribal Council will meet with U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks on Thursday to discuss land disputes with Olympic National Park — and the tribe’s abrupt closure of the trailhead to Second Beach.
The tribe and National Park Service officials have been at odds since the beginning of the year to swap land along the reservation’s northern boundary for higher land along the park’s border near LaPush.
Quileute Tribal Chairman Russell Woodruff Sr. said the tribal council initiated the swap discussion because it realized that the center of the village, containing many homes and the tribe’s school, was within a tsunami zone.
Earlier this month, the tribe was told that the parkland it wanted had been designated as wilderness area in 1988 and could not be acquired.
In response, the tribe closed off public access to a portion of the Second Beach trail that crosses tribal land into the park, and access to the breakwater south of Rialto Beach.
Both of these locations are known for their spectacular beauty and serve as major tourist attractions.