A renewed effort to improve Yakima River Canyon

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Richard Nixon was on his way to the presidency when the Yakima River Canyon highway became the state's first scenic byway.

Along with the 1968 designation came a plan to protect natural resources, enhance public awareness and recreation facilities while providing a safe highway for the public to enjoy the scenery during leisurely drives through the canyon.

The canyon, created by the river's erosive action over time, created basalt cliffs rising 2,000 feet above the river, exposing evidence of millions of years of geologic activity and spectacular views.

The public did its part, making the canyon a magnet for boating, tubing, fishing, hiking and sightseeing. Almost 160,000 people -- nearly twice the city of Yakima's current population -- visited the four canyon recreation sites managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management in 2009.

Visitors have done more than that. They have trespassed on private property to hike and have stopped beside the road in places not intended as parking areas, making travel on the highway less safe. No bike lanes exist for bicyclists to use their mode of transportation in the canyon.

Meanwhile, the plan, which provided the outlines for enhancing recreation facilities and highway improvements, has languished for
42 years.

"The state did the plan and that was it. There was never any funding to fully develop it," observed Brian White, an assistant regional administrator for the transportation department in Union Gap. "There were multiple state agencies involved, but they never championed the cause."

The canyon and the 18-mile scenic highway is about to get a champion, or more correctly a small army of champions bent on updating the plan and seeking money to make a reality of those long-ago proposed improvements.

Jill Arango, Central Washington representative for the Cascade Land Conservancy, is leading the effort to raise $50,000 to update the plan.

She said she tried to obtain grants, but was rebuffed because the existing plan had lain dormant so long.

Arango made some calls that have now attracted local governments, tourism and business groups, state and federal agencies and private firms to the cause.

The conservancy is a land conservation and stewardship organization.

The groups are holding a dinner tonight at Canyon River Ranch to sign an agreement to work together and begin raising money.

Arango said her primary interest has been to protect sensitive areas and expand public understanding through interpretive signs about the canyon's uniqueness.

"Because I come from a conservation and education background, my question was how to help people already coming here understand better what they are seeing and what they are driving through," she said. "What are the interesting things about the habitat, geology and natural history we can interpret?"

The canyon is a mix of public and privately owned land. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has the Wenas Wildlife Area on the west side of the river and BLM has about 9,000 acres along the river that includes the four recreation sites, Big Pines, Roza, Umtanum and Lmuma.

Diane Priebe , an outdoor recreation planner with the BLM in Wenatchee, said the agency also wants to see improvements in the byway area.

"Any improvements that increase the accessibility and safety of recreation in that area are on our list," she said. "We also are interested in making sure the facilities can accommodate the use, not just at our sites but throughout the canyon."

"It's getting more and more popular," she added. "There are a lot of people there."

Arango said one potential outcome involves conservation easements on private land that would protect the shrub-steppe habitat from development.

Trespassing on private land also is an issue, she said. One solution would be creation of clearly marked trails on public lands.

The largest private land owner is the Jack Eaton family, which has about 12,000 acres along the east side. The family operation, in existence for 60 years, raises cattle that range across the property.

Eaton, who is 82, said trespassers on foot and in vehicles are a chronic problem -- damaging fences, leaving gates open, littering and tearing up the soil.

He said he is interested in finding out more about the new effort, but is skeptical that the group can have much of an impact on the trespass problem.

"It's hard to keep people off someplace where they want to go," he said.

Road improvements also envisioned in the original plan have also gone by the wayside. White said much of what DOT has done deals with maintenance of the existing roadway.

Potential improvements could include widening the
road shoulders where poss-
ible to provide space for bicycle riding, or better des-ignation of sightseeing areas.

"We have places that people are using as turnouts because it is a flat spot. Should we perpetuate that or move it elsewhere where we can provide a trail?" White asked.

That and other questions will be addressed during development of the updated
plan, which the land conser-vancy's Arango anticipates will be completed by the end of next year.