Cowiche Canyon Conservancy-- Bold dreams have led to big successes

This editorial appears in the Yakima Herald-Republic on May 8, 2009.

It takes a vision to build a trail.

That's certainly the case for the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy. Some 25 years ago, a few dreamers imagined a nature trail along a 2.9-mile stretch of an abandoned rail line west of Yakima. It snaked through an unforgiving landscape of chiseled basalt and arid sagelands. Nearby homeowners feared trespassers. Floodwaters tore apart bridges.

But the dream persisted, and so did the volunteers who cleared pathways and then raised funds to purchase surrounding property. New bridges were constructed; new visitors arrived, bearing witness to the rich vegetation and wildlife that flourish along the banks of Cowiche Creek.

Now, that small trail is cradled by more than 1,800 acres, rising from the water's edge of the creek at the east end to the summit of Cowiche Mountain on the west. Bird watchers take delight in the antics of cedar waxwings that populate the juniper trees, while mountain bikers frolic in the dips and twists of the rugged terrain.

The trail attracts about 10,000 visitors a year. That's a bona fide success story for a volunteer group that had two goals in mind -- provide the public with a recreational destination and preserve the natural habitat.

But the conservancy is not resting on these laurels. Its dedicated cadre of volunteers have made the next logical move -- solidifying its organization by hiring paid staff.

The two part-time positions will focus on maintenance, additional land acquisitions, public relations, grant writing, fundraising and developing opportunities for school field trips to the area.

With more than 400 dues-paying members, the conservancy has other ambitious goals in mind -- a salmon-restoration project in the south fork of Cowiche Canyon and a connected trailway to the Yakima Greenway, three miles to the east, and to Mount Rainier National Park 120 miles to the west.

Bold dreams, but these are the stuff that trails are made of.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Bob Crider, Spencer Hatton and Karen Troianello.