In the last newsletter I wrote about Spokane County’s highly competitive Conservation Futures Program, and about several outstanding properties adjacent to Riverside State Park that were selected for County acquisition through that program in 2005 – a 69-acre parcel in the Pine Bluff area and a 754-acre property in the White Bluff Prairie area.   There was one more successful 2005 nomination that I’d like to tell you about too.

That third property is a 17-acre parcel located between Riverside and the City of Spokane’s Palisades Park (south of Trails Rd./Government Way near the Bowl & Pitcher and north of Houston Rd.).  It offers scenic views of Spokane, pine forest and basalt cliffs.  Coupled with another Conservation Futures purchase now underway (still pending from an earlier round of nominations), this land may soon serve to link the two parks together. 

That would be a boon for local equestrians and other recreational users of public land in the Palisades/Rimrock area.  It would enhance connectivity of protected lands  and ensure that there remains an unbroken corridor of natural open space for wildlife movement between the parks.

Riverside State Park Foundation, Riverside State Park Citizen’s Advisory Board and the active neighborhood group Palisades Northwest are all eager to see this property added to the local park system.

Purchase of all three of these lands by the Spokane County Conservation Futures Program would add topographic coherence to the public lands in our area.  Each purchase would connect Riverside with other City or County holdings and/or would connect a landlocked portion of Riverside with the main body of the park by purchasing additional high quality habitat that sits in between and is currently under threat of development.  The nominated properties are also located near several equestrian trailheads, and seem particularly well positioned to extend the existing trail system.  For these reasons, some portions of the nominated properties are included within Riverside’s long-term boundary.  However, so far State Parks has had neither the opportunity nor the resources to purchase them.

Fortunately, the County’s Conservation Futures Program is another means of funding public acquisitions for conservation purposes, and Riverside State Park and Spokane County Parks have a great cooperative working relationship.  They both recognize the critical importance of connectivity as they assemble and manage an increasingly coherent network of interconnected parklands – some owned and/or managed by one agency and some by the other. 

The Foundation would like to say a resounding Thank You to the landowners, David Czinger, Robert and Richard Tessier and E.J. Lowe, for their vision, their conservation ethic, and their willingness to wait patiently while the “wheels” move oh so slowly on these proposed County and City purchases.  Thanks also to the nominators, and to the other volunteers, organizations and agencies who assisted with and supported these nominations.  And finally thanks to the Spokane County Parks Citizen Advisory Committee, Spokane County Parks staffers Doug Chase and Steve Horobiowski, City Parks staffers Mike Stone and Pamela McKinzie, and the Spokane County Commissioners for working together to recommend and ultimately select these properties from amongst almost two dozen stellar nominations. 

However, protection of these and the other selected lands is far from a done deal, and at this stage there are no guarantees.  Winning a place on the Conservation Futures “Priority Acquisition List” is important, but it’s only the first milestone in a lengthy process.   

Last summer along with finalizing the Conservation Futures selection list, the Spokane County Commissioners adopted new requirements for appraisals.  They also instructed County Parks staff to arrange for successive, rather than simultaneous, appraisal of the selected CFP properties.  Getting a new system up and running has caused delays, even for the appraisal of the smallest selected properties, which were designated “first in line” for appraisal by the Commissioners.  Consequently, there exists a substantial risk that the owners of the selected properties, particularly the larger ones such as this 69-acre and 754-acre parcels, will become discouraged with the long wait, and the opportunity to conserve these important lands for wildlife habitat and human recreation may be lost. 

We urge Spokane County to maintain good lines of communications with the relevant landowners, and to move forward with appraising the selected lands and negotiating purchase agreements with their owners as soon as possible.  We urge the owners to continue to be patient so that all the effort invested to permanently protect their land can ultimately bear fruit.  And we urge members of the community to let your County Commissioners, City and County Park Board members and City and County Parks staff know that you value the park system being built with Conservation Futures dollars and wish to see them expedite acquisition of their 2005 selected properties before it is too late. 

Community Partnership

April is Community Partnership Month and Riverside State Park has set aside the weekend of April 15th to celebrate time with the local community. This is your chance to partner with the staff at Riverside State Park and other community members and organizations to help clean up the park and do maintenance and trail projects. Last year was a huge success with 45 separate groups of over 500 community members donating nearly 1500 hours of service work. The projects ranged from cleaning debris and trees from the Centennial Trail corridor to planting native vegetation in the Bowl and Pitcher as well as other important projects throughout Riverside State Park. Without the support of the community some of these great projects would never have been completed. We would like you to join us this year and find out what a difference you can make. For more information please contact Ranger Jody Maberry at 465-5064 and ask how you can partner with us on April 15th. Individuals and groups are both welcome.

Firewood Permits to be Limited

by MacArthur Mikkelsen
Head Park Ranger, Little Spokane River Natural Area

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!  TIMMMBERRRRRR!!!!!!  Okay, I’m pretty sure most of you got the metaphor by now.  The next question is…Got Firewood?

 For years Riverside State Park Rangers have issued firewood permits to local citizens for a small price.  Wood or “Conservation” permits typically range from $10-$25 and are good for up to five cords (cost reflects amount of wood harvested).  A permit can be issued free to senior citizens and disabled persons if you qualify.  However, things are going to change, and just like the pessimistic cliché states “all good things come to an end.”

 The reality is that Riverside has plenty of great harvestable firewood varying from Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir to some Alder, Maple and even a little Western Larch if you look really hard.  However, much of this wood is either in a location that is not easily accessible to the people with permits and/or the management of the wood is to allow for a more natural course of action, such as decomposition via insects/weather and/or creating habitat for birds and other wildlife.  Further, if there are hazard or “emergency removal” trees along a designated trail, roadway, campsite, park residence, or other area where it presents a potential hazard, we will continue to remove those tress, as well as removing large quantities of trees to reduce fuel loads in case of wildfire.   The difference is that in most cases in the past we would issue a permit for the wood; instead the park will now be taking most the wood for our campfire wood program.

Firewood for campfires (when allowed) has been available for purchase at Riverside for over 4 years.  We cut, split and bundle the wood; then the camp hosts and/or park staff help visitors get their wood once it has been purchased.  The best part about this program is that all of the proceeds go back to Riverside…taking this “renewable resource” to the next level.

Pretty much the bottom line and the whole point of writing this article is to get the word out that firewood permits are going to be very scarce.  I’m not saying that permits are a thing of the past, but they will not be issued in the numbers that we have in the past.  I can see maybe 5-10 permits per year maximum.  What this basically means is that since it is first-come-first serve, get your request in early for your 2006 permit.

If wood burning is your only source of heat and/or you don’t want to pay the power and fuel companies to send their children’s children to an Ivy League School and have money left over for books and pizza, consider this… Here are some other options for getting firewood, short of buying it at a premium price from some shady “under the table” wood cutter.

Department of Natural Resources  (800)527-3305

United States Forest Service & Bureau of Land Management (509)536-1200

Mount Spokane State Park (509)238-4258

Plant trees on your property then fertilize and water heavily J

 Finally, I’d like to say that if anyone witnesses a violation in the park, observe from a safe distance and record what you see (license number, description of person(s), type of violation, time, and location) then please contact the park office at 465-5064.  Emergencies call 911.

I am always up for comments and/or criticism, so let me have it… macmikkelsen02@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading.  Be safe and have fun.  Parks are forever.

Angel’s Wings Trail Project

by Mike Brixey

Visitors to the west part of the Park may be familiar with a particularly gnarly, rocky section of trail that climbs out of the area burned in the 1997 fire. This area referred to by a number of different names, “Drop of Death”, the “Rock Pile”, “Wall of Fear” or, as the 24-hour mountain bike racers know it, “Devil’s Down”.  It has been discussed for a number of years that a bypass of the section would be desirable. While there are reportedly a few super-humans capable of riding up this section (although this writer has never personally witnessed such a feat), the rest of us mere mortals yearned for a gentler route.

This past summer, members of the Fat Tire Trail Riders club and the Trail Care Crew of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) worked to make this vision a reality. The trail was laid out along the base of the basalt scree slope. It then passed through a section of young tamarack (larch) and out to a small knob overlooking the burn area and river beyond. The trail then reverses back and drops gently to intersect the main trail near the base of the rocky section. Numerous downed trees littered the route, requiring a day’s worth of chainsaw work to clear the intended route.

A number of challenges and obstacles greeted the trail builders. The upper section is constructed mainly of hand placed basalt rock. The first work day was cut a bit short when the workers disturbed a yellow jacket hive. Needless to say, that section of trail was left for another day. Once the stones were placed to create a relatively level tread, the section was covered with crushed rock base as a final surface. Ranger Rob kindly hauled the materials to the top of the project area, keeping the hand wheeling distance to a minimum. The second challenge was in the tamarack grove. The soils in this area consisted mainly of a thick layer of Mt. St. Helens ash. Work in this area was like trying to build a trail with a cake mix. The trail tread was mainly roughed-in, with final work waiting until the soil moisture levels rose sufficiently to allow final shaping.  The last tricky section was in the area of the knob overlook. Medium to large sized basalt boulders lurked just beneath a thin covering of soil. Large numbers of boulders were worried from the intended route. Then, the holes that were left had to be filled with what little soils were available.

The trail was constructed using IMBA-standard trail building techniques, such as grade reversals, contour trail location, out-sloping trail tread and a large radius climbing turn. The goal of using these methods is to provide a sustainable trail that requires minimal maintenance in the future. The Fat Tire Trail Riders contributed about 125 hours of labor to bring the trail to near completion. Work will recommence in the spring to buff out any portions that have settled over the winter. Many positive comments have been received by early users of the trail. The bypass is approximately 900 feet in length and climbs at an average grade of less than 10%. It is now rideable by beginning and intermediate level riders (bike and equestrian). Of course, those still seeking a greater challenge can still try their hands at Devils Down. But for the rest of us, we will float to the top on “Angel’s Wings”.