In the News

BY SARA SCHILLING A public preserve could be created on Candy Mountain south of West Richland, similar to the popular Badger Mountain Centennial Preserve that draws thousands of people each year. Benton County will seek $750,000 from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office. And the Friends of Badger Mountain committed to raise the match. The money would buy about 200 acres of Candy Mountain and pay for building trails and maintenance. Creating a public preserve there is part of a larger vision for a public ridgetop trail system running from Amon Basin about 20 miles northwest to the Yakima River. The system would connect Little Badger Mountain, Badger Mountain, Candy Mountain and Red Mountain. Benton County commissioners on Tuesday voted 2-0 to go after the state grant. Commissioner Shon Small was absent. "We've got to create (places) for people to have recreation and play," said Commissioner Jim Beaver, board chairman. "We've got to build a better (community) for everybody, that's part of our role here." The Badger Mountain preserve was established in 2005 after a grassroots fundraising effort led by Friends of Badger. The preserve is more than 640 acres. It's the most popular county park and is one of the best-used recreation spots in the region. In 2012, about 187,800 visits were recorded; last year's total isn't finalized but is expected to total about 200,000 visits. As with the Badger Mountain preserve, Benton County would own the Candy Mountain land and Friends of Badger would take the lead on building trails and stewardship. "With very few exceptions, almost all of the work on trails and other things within the (Badger Mountain) preserve have been done by volunteers organized by Friends," said a county staff report. Benton County contributed $100,000 toward a bathroom at the trailhead park in Richland, but has otherwise spent less than $50,000 and fewer than 200 hours of staff time in the park in nine years, said the report. David Comstock, vice president of Friends of Badger Mountain, made the Candy Mountain pitch to county commissioners Tuesday. "It's important that we preserve these key features of our community before they're developed," he told the Herald after the session in Prosser. "Now is the time to do it, before these opportunities are gone." He also said the Candy Mountain preserve and the public ridgetop trail system would bring economic benefits to the community, from raising property values in areas near the trails and open space to attracting sports and recreation events that draw visitors. Friends of Badger already has about 25 percent of the $750,000 it would need to match the state recreation grant. In recent months, Comstock and some other local advocates have been working on a separate conservation financing proposal for the fall election. The group is expected to come to commissioners this spring to request their proposal be placed on the fall ballot. The concept that has been discussed is a property tax increase -- costing $11 a year for the average household -- to pay for projects from buying land for parks to preserving farmland and wildlife habitat. A survey conducted last fall in Benton County found majority support for such a proposal. The county would administer the money. A Candy Mountain preserve is the kind of project that could be eligible for money from the pot if a measure ultimately is approved by voters. Comstock said the Badger Mountain preserve is a local treasure that people from throughout the community enjoy. "If we're able to create another preserve like that, I think it's a gift to the whole community," he said. Friends of Badger Mountain: www.friendsofbadger.org.

Sara Schilling They look like off-road versions of a stretcher, with large, durable wheels. And they'll make a big difference for the firefighters responding to medical calls on Badger Mountain and the injured trail-users they're sent to help. "In the past, we'd have to get six or seven people up there and try to carry the person down, which is very labor intensive," said Adam Hardgrove, a firefighter with the Richland Fire Department. But the new rescue litters, or stretchers, can be managed by one or two people and will lessen the time it takes to get patients off the mountain. They'll also allow crews to provide medical care on the way down. "We can put our oxygen equipment in there, we can put our cardiac monitor in there ... we can start everything," Hardgrove said. He and several other fire officials and Benton County leaders gathered Wednesday to debut the two new litters. One will stay at the trailhead park off Queensgate Drive in Richland and the other will be stationed at the mountain's summit. They'll be locked up for use by emergency officials. Benton fire districts 1 and 2 provided the baskets, and the county bought the wheels and chassis, which totaled $1,600. The litters are part of a larger effort to improve safety and preparedness at Badger, which saw about 187,000 hikers in 2012. Color-coded markers soon will be placed along the trails to help injured trail-users relay their positions to first responders. The county and Friends of Badger Mountain are collaborating to make them. Hardgrove and Richland Fire Capt. Ron Duncan, who brought the idea of the litters and color-coded markers to the county, also have identified several landing zones for helicopters. Duncan said first responders see everything on Badger from sprains and bee stings to heart attacks. "We have a big variety of people that are climbing the mountain, anywhere from 3 or 4 years old up to 80, 90 years old," he said. "From our point, we want to be proactive." Other steps also are being taken to make the popular site safer. Benton Fire District 1 is working on signs for the trailheads that provide information on what to do if a fire breaks out on the mountain -- something that happened a couple of weeks ago, sparked by lightning. And fire and county officials are discussing more ways to warn of and prepare for Badger fires. "We're hoping to (use this approach) as a model for the whole county" as more hillsides are developed with trails, Duncan said. Benton County Commissioner Jim Beaver, who checked out the litters at Wednesday's gathering, said "the politician's job is to listen to the people who know best and try to bring something to the table to say, 'OK, what can we do to help?' " "From (commissioners') standpoint, thank you everybody who was involved in recognizing the problem and identifying the solution," he said. Sara Schilling: 582-1529; sschilling @tricityherald.com; Twitter: @saraTCHerald Read more here:

By Ty Beaver, Tri-City Herald Phil Pinard said he is pretty sure a new one-mile loop trail at Trailhead Park will be welcomed by Tri-Citians once it is finished this weekend. "Judging by the number of footprints, once we get signs up, it will get some use," said Pinard, Richland's interim parks and recreation director. Thirty to 50 members of the Tri-Cities' six Rotary clubs will make the finishing touches Saturday morning to the trail, which has been under construction since late last year at the base of Badger Mountain. City officials and park advocates said the trail will provide a good alternative for people wanting to spend time in the park who don't want to or aren't able to hike Badger Mountain. And building the trail has given others the opportunity to give something back to the area. "We just want to do service in the community," said Lorraine Cooper, with the Pasco-Kennewick Rotary. The trail will have a gravel surface and be completely level, remaining in the flat portion of the 40-acre park, Pinard said. The surrounding terrain includes sagebrush and grasses, and there are wildflowers in the spring. Sharon Grant, a co-founder and board member of Friends of Badger Mountain, said the park and Badger Mountain already receive a lot of visitors. More than 160,000 reportedly hiked in the area last year, and Grant said she expects that to grow this year. However, the steep mountain climb up almost 1,600 feet couldn't be enjoyed by all, and Grant started talking to Richland about developing an easier hiking path. "I would have people who would come up to me and say, 'I would love to hike Badger, but I can't do that anymore,' " she said. Pinard said the new trail incorporates part of an old road that existed in the park. Boy Scouts from the Blue Mountain Council, including four Eagle Scouts who used the work as part of their final projects, started working on the trail months ago by digging out the trail, removing protruding roots and preparing it for a layer of gravel. Rotarians will finish up the path by clearing any remaining debris and spreading gravel under supervision from members of Friends of Badger Mountain. Cooper said the project made sense to Rotarians. She said the clubs often are thought of for their financial contributions to their communities but they are committed to service, and that includes physical work. "This is just what Rotary does," she said. Grant added that while Rotarians are helping to finish off the project, it has been a team effort from the start. -- Ty Beaver: 582-1402; [email protected]   Read more here: