COWICHE CANYON -- When the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy formed nearly 25 years ago, its main focus was to convert a 2.9-mile stretch of abandoned railroad line into a trail.

Today, the area encompasses more than 1,800 acres of arid sagelands that touch the summit of Cowiche Mountain on one end and drop into a basalt canyon cut by Cowiche Creek on the other.

As its size has increased over the past quarter-century, so too has the number of visitors. In the beginning, it was estimated that hundreds of people visited the area annually. Two years ago, a counter set up at one trail tallied more than 10,000.

Bird watchers, mountain bike enthusiasts and people simply looking for exercise and pristine views flock to the area.

Growth is forcing the volunteer-run conservancy to become more organized so it can better coordinate school field trips, restoration projects and maintenance of the area. Recently, the group created two part-time positions.

"It's huge, way bigger than when we first started," Cecilia Vogt, the conservancy's newly hired executive director, said of the organization. "We need help."

Vogt will oversee stewardship and maintenance of the area, land acquisition and community relations, while Barbara Smith Gilbert will focus on grant writing, fundraising and developing educational programs for school field trips to the conservancy.

"We thought a team approach might be helpful for the organization," Gilbert said.

The conservancy began in 1985, when a handful of people formed a project to convert an abandoned rail line through Cowiche Canyon into a usable trail, recalls David Hagen, a longtime member of the conservancy's board of directors.

Then, as now, the goal was twofold: Give the public a recreational area and preserve natural habitat, Hagen said.

What makes the preserve popular among local residents is its easy access.

Just a few yards into the trail and the roar of Summitview Avenue traffic disappears. On one recent afternoon, people took in the views along the trail, enjoying the bloom of yellow balsamroot speckled across basalt on the north side of the canyon. Slopes on the south side were canvassed in swaths of purple Showy Phlox and white Hood's Phlox wildflowers.

The sound of water flowing in Cowiche Creek mixed with the chirping of singing birds.

"It's truly in the canyon that you get that sense of isolation, solitude," Vogt said as she walked along the gravel trail. "And it's an easy walk, three miles on solid ground."

The trail is unpaved and motorized vehicles aren't allowed.

A side trail leads hikers out of the canyon on the north side, through vineyards to a wine tasting room -- situated in a converted, century-old farmhouse -- that showcases wines from Naches Heights Vineyard, Harlequin Wine Cellars and Wilridge Vineyard and Winery.

Wilridge owner Paul Beveridge said it was the nearby canyon that drew him to the property more than a year ago and led to a collaborative effort with the conservancy to establish the trail to the wineries.

"Last weekend, I bet we had 40 people come up from the canyon, or gone down," he said.

Over time, the conser-vancy has acquired more land above the canyon, where trails wind through rock-laden soil and up steep slopes.

In 2005, the conservancy was successful in buying Snow Mountain Ranches, roughly 1,600 acres to the west that reaches the summit of Cowiche Mountain. Two trails, one of 3.7 miles and a longer one that is 6.1 miles, loop through the area.

"It was sort of a dream to just have the trail through the canyon," Hagen said. "It's just been sort of a progression of what we set out for in the beginning. We've kind of built and grown gradually."

Now, the group is preparing to move on a project there to restore several acres of pasture to natural habitat and begin a salmon restoration project on the south fork of Cowiche Creek, which cuts through the property, Vogt said.

It will take about 10 years to complete the project.

"That's our goal -- to have this back to its original condition," she said.

A grant of about $300,000 from the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board is paying for the project.

The conservancy is also interested in buying more land in the Cowiche Creek and Naches River areas to protect those watersheds, but is not ready to identify property owners due to the delicate nature of the transactions, Vogt said.

Far-reaching goals include connecting the conservancy to the Yakima Greenway about three miles to the east and eventually about 120 miles to the west to Mount Rainier National Park.

This year the conservancy has an annual budget of about $311,000, which comes from grants and dues paid by its roughly 400 members.

Hundreds of people volunteer each year, and the group often taps church and other youth groups to conduct cleanup and weed control projects.

There are also trail maintenance and vandalism issues to contend with.

Having paid staff members will not only help keep projects going, but also allow the conservancy to offer more to schools visiting the area, Gilbert said.

When the conservancy gets a call about a planned visit, board members scramble to find someone with knowledge of the area to offer a tour.

"We have a demand for that but haven't had a systematic way of organizing that yet," Gilbert said.

Now, as she coordinates field trips, she'll have a list of experts available to teach about the geology and history of the area.

"I'm hoping to find some funding to actually have some educational programs in place," she said.

Pioneers of the conservancy are excited about the growth and seeing the organization mature, Hagen said.

"It's really gratifying," he said.

* Phil Ferolito can be reached at 509-577-7749 or pferolito@yakimaherald.com.