Trailblazers mark Cowiche Canyon Conservancy's 25th anniversary

YAKIMA, Wash. -- At 25 years of age, the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy is pretty well grown up.

The conservancy sprang from the efforts of a few volunteers in 1985 who were bent on saving from private development an old, three-mile railroad bed that wound through Cowiche Canyon off Summitview Avenue.

Today, the conservancy owns about 2,000 acres and there are six trails for a total of 14 miles of walking and hiking through pristine shrub-steppe habitat.

The organization is also poised to take over plans for the 80-mile William O. Douglas Trail from Yakima to Mt. Rainier.

A professional executive director now runs the conservancy from a new office downtown, and she has ambitions of putting the organization on the national map in the world of public land trusts -- perhaps the country's single-most important vehicle for preserving vanishing landscapes.

"I think we have grown up and the next big step is to be a convener of critical partnerships," said Betsy Bloomfield, 56, who took the helm in December. She most recently worked for The Nature Conservancy in Yakima.

Board president Curtis Sundquist said the old days of running the organization out of people's kitchens -- volunteers who had full-time day jobs -- are thankfully in the past. While there have been part-time, nominally paid directors, Bloomfield is the first with a proven track record in running a land trust.

"It's become a more stable, professionally operated organization. It's come a long way," Sundquist
said. Today, a 15-member board governs the conservancy.

Bloomfield, who is currently part-time, has a lot on her plate. Challenges ahead include fundraising, land acquisition, trail improvements and restoration projects.

But first, there's a celebration to be had. A three-day party called Cowiche Canyon Rocks! will take place over Earth Day weekend and will include an interpretive walk, a dinner party with music and wine, and a photographic exhibit.

Other programs will follow throughout the year, including a trails event at Snow Mountain Ranch, a pivotal purchase in 2005 that added 1,800 acres to the conservancy's holdings.

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A lot of work, all done by volunteers

Preserving the diverse and stunning landscape of the canyon and its uplands is quite an achievement, said David Hagen, a photographer who is one of the original members of the conservancy and past board president.

"It's been a lot of work," Hagen said. "What's pretty amazing is that what's been accomplished has been basically by an all-volunteer organization."

Hagen said the early work focused on acquiring the railroad right-of-way and securing clear title to parcels along the path. The rail line dated back to the 1900s and was used for more than 50 years to serve fruit warehouses in Cowiche and Tieton.

Private landowners in the canyon sued to stop Burlington Northern Railroad from deeding the land to the conservancy. They argued that when Burlington Northern abandoned the route in the 1980s, the title to the land should have reverted to them.

But thanks to the volunteer legal efforts of Ray Paolella -- former Yakima city attorney and an avid hiker -- the courts sided with the conservancy in 1989. The railroad indeed had clear title to the land and legally turned it over to the conservancy.

Separately at the same time, the conservancy was suing a private landowner, claiming he had removed three railroad trestles, effectively blocking complete access to the entire canyon.

The conservancy lost that case but bridges were eventually rebuilt thanks to generous donations from the community, led by Shields Bag & Printing, Burlington Northern, the Yakima Greenway Foundation and Yakima County.

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Sustaining the conservancy

Bloomfield has articulated four principles of action for the conservancy: conservation, recreation, education and the creation of what she calls an "enduring institution" with a diversified funding portfolio and sound strategic plan for the future.

Memberships sustain the conservancy with dues starting at $35 for an individual and up to $1,000 for a corporation. The operating budget this year will be about $150,000.

But Bloomfield wants to diversify the financial base by seeking grants and gifts and possibly setting up an endowment as a more permanent source of funding.

She's also forming more partnerships between the conservancy and other entities to make shared resources go farther. For example, she plans on being supportive of Yakima County's new Quality of Life Committee, which is identifying recreational and arts facilities as important parts of community life.

Also in the works is a training manual so that volunteer docents can lead hikes and educational trips through the canyon. Volunteers are always needed to be the eyes and ears of the conservancy out in the canyon.

For example, although the trails are marked, it's easy enough for anyone to go "cross country," that is, make their own tracks across the fragile habitat.

Bloomfield said the best protection against errant hikers is a well-established trail system with interpretive signs that gives people a sense of the big landscape and doesn't tempt them to stray.

While there is some signage now, it's limited, and the conservancy plans to move ahead with a more comprehensive signage plan.

Still another planned project is the restoration of pasture lands to native grasses at Snow Mountain Ranch.

Started during World War II by Yakima fruit grower Elon Gilbert, the ranchlands encompass an elevation gain of more than 1,000 feet from the South Fork of Cowiche Creek to the summit Cowiche Mountain.

Gilbert used to entertain Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas at the ranch, a fitting historical footnote now that a separate nonprofit to establish the William O. Douglas trail will be folded into the conservancy.

It's uncertain when the 80-mile trail will be completed. The first elements are still works in progress, including a pedestrian bridge over Cowiche Canyon Road and a mile of the pathway along North Sixth Avenue and across the trolley bridge over the Naches River.

While there is much to do, Bloomfield said she is "enthralled" to be working for the conservancy and has identified its motto for the next 25 years:

"The watchword for the first 25 years was to strive. For the next, it's to thrive."

* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 509-577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.

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If you go

WHAT: Cowiche Canyon Rocks! 25th Anniversary Celebration.

WHAT & WHEN:

* Art: Starting April 16 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Photo art by David Hagen at The Tasting Room Yakima at Wilridge Winery, 250 Ehler Road. Through April 30.

* Walks: Interpretive walks for Earth Day. Meet at 12:45 p.m. April 18 at the Weikel Trailhead. Topics include birds and wildlife, geology and rare butterflies.

* Anniversary party: April 18 at The Tasting Room Yakima, includes chili dinner, wine, cake and brief program. Music by the Blue Tropics.

HOW MUCH: Pre-paid reservations for the dinner party are required by April 10. Cost is $50 per adult, $15 ages 12 and younger.

MORE INFO: www.cowichecanyon.org