Hey everyone, if you fly into Tieton airstrip then this is your chance to go up there and help clean it up for the season. I just sent an email to Paul Wolf (WA State Aviation division) and this is what he said via email

"Next Saturday May 15th will be a work party at Tieton. I checked the runway last week and it was drying out nicely. Some minor ruts from quad riders, that we will be filling with sand on Saturday. Normally the airport is open on June 1st, but you can fly in as part of the work party. Just be sure to make contact me on the CTAF and I will give you a reading of the runway and make sure everyone is off. Jim Kingman is the group lead and the work party starts at 9 am."

So if you want to help out then go help, again make sure you you call on CTAF. If you have more questions you can call him. Below is his information.

I would love to go but im on the other side of the world, in Hell.....were its 106 in midday...hopefully home in a week!

G. Paul Wolf
Washington State Dept of Transportation
State Airport Manager / Construction Project Manager
Phone: 360-651-6313
Cell: 360-618-2477
Fax: 360-651-6319
Aviation Division
18204 59th Drive NE, Suite B
Arlington, WA 98223
[email protected]

Does he open the strip early for a work party? They show it closed like other WA State operated strips until 1Jun.

He opens it to those that are going to help for the clean up. After that if he decideds he wants to fully open it he'll update it on the website otherwise it'll be June 1st.

Thanks for the heads up. If the weather is reasonable, I'll try to be there.

I assume bring gloves and, maybe, various implements of destruction.

you can, and if you don't then he will have the stuff there to do some of the work. I know last year he gave out vests so you could be "visible!" And he had shovels, dirt, wheelbarrows and a few other goodies!

Good trip. Good work party. Several people, including a couple of people from a snowmobile group that uses the runway during the winter time when it's closed. In return, they help out with maintenance. I was the only one who flew in.

St. Helens Area


Inhospitable terrain is always a bit spooky



Mt Rainier. Getting pretty close.


There it is, Rimrock lake


I later realized, that's not Rimrock lake... What lake is that? Where the heck am I? It's Bumping lake. I went up the wrong valley.

Crag peak and Bumping lake


Flew around the backside of the William O'Douglas Wilderness and much longer over inhospitable terrain than I'd hoped.


Here's Rimrock lake


Workers filling in ruts from ATV'ers running over ground when soft and wet.


Paul, the party organizer


One guy cheated and brought a tractor. Saved a ton of time.


After the work I walked the runway and took a couple more shots

The stip looks great! I really wish I could have been there! I am stuck in Germany, trying to get home. Hopefully this dam ashcloud doesn't keep us here longer. Thanks for going out there and helping. Its good to see other pilots go in there and help. I think its great that part of the agreement with the snowmobilers is they helps clean it up in the spring, they leave alot of rubber from the tracks, but I still think a pilot is going to take more time and pride in making sure things look tip top!
Wish I could have come out, great pics!! You should post the updated pics on shortfield. at least the one with a nice lush green field!

piperpainter wrote:The stip looks great! I really wish I could have been there! I am stuck in Germany, trying to get home. Hopefully this dam ashcloud doesn't keep us here longer. Thanks for going out there and helping. Its good to see other pilots go in there and help. I think its great that part of the agreement with the snowmobilers is they helps clean it up in the spring, they leave alot of rubber from the tracks, but I still think a pilot is going to take more time and pride in making sure things look tip top!
Wish I could have come out, great pics!! You should post the updated pics on shortfield. at least the one with a nice lush green field!

It was too bad you couldn't make it. The work went fairly quickly with the loader. You're exactly right about the snowmobiler agreement too.

I chatted with Paul a little about various airports, closures, ski-ops. Here's my assessment of the conversation. Don't quote me on it. Some of the airports are closed because of agreements with other organizations such as the snowmobilers. They spend time and effort grooming the snow for their use.

Some closed because it's simply too soft or dangerous at certain times of the year and those who attempt it often leave big ruts that need filling by some hapless volunteers.

Some are closed at certain times because of agreements with other agencies, such as Rogersburg which is on BLM land. Those, in particular, are at risk of permanent loss if pilots don't respect the closure times.

While Paul didn't specifically mention liability, I gathered that for official winter time opening, say for ski ops, the state would have to maintain the runway to a certain standard.