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Hello,

I am a former proprietor of Harmony Falls Lodge on Spirit Lake. My sons are now catch and release flyfishermen who learned to fish growing up on Spirit Lake. As a child, I caught my first wild fish from our dock at the base of Mt. Saint Helens . It was a most exciting , magical and beautiful encouter with a wild fish and I will never forget that early morning as a little girl, alone on the dock at dawn with this fantastic Rainbow trout on my line. I wrangeled that mythical fish to shore and  then shaking  with excitiment and weeping , released him knowing noone would believe my fish story when they woke up that morning.

Those days are gone to us now. They should be. This wilderness area is in a genesis that should be allowed to evolve unmolested . I lost Harmony Falls Lodge. I was forced to give it all up to the  Mountain and then, the Federal Government followed with no rembursement  of any kind except the legacy of a National Monument. Why should anyone be allowed to sport fish on a lake that was returned to the natural world with this promise in 1980. It must remain prisitine.

Respectfully,

Laura (Berry) Bernad

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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