In the News

A seven-month campaign to raise enough money to buy 150 acres of ridgetop on Little Badger Mountain and preserve it apparently isn't going to succeed. At least not this year. After receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from more than 500 donors since the campaign launched in May, Friends of Badger Mountain admitted this week that they can't make their goal, and donors are welcome to ask for their money back. The nonprofit group, which has a goal of preserving ridgetops in the Tri-Cities, was trying to raise $1 million to use in negotiating a price for 150 acres atop Little Badger Mountain. The land is owned by Milo Bauder, a developer from Richland. "For a small group we've done pretty well, but we basically are far apart," said Debbie Berkowitz, the group's vice president. The group collected about $200,000 by mid-summer. Berkowitz said they were not announcing how much they had in hand now nor how much Bauder was asking, to "respect his request that it not be made public." An e-mail sent this week to all of the donors in the preservation effort thanked them for moral and financial support, but noted that goal was unattainable unless "an angel" steps forward with a large donation. "We had offered what we felt was an amount that we could comfortably raise. (Bauder) responded that our offer was too low, but (he would consider another offer)," the e-mail said. "After much soul searching, the board has regretfully concluded that the project is not currently viable," said Sharon Grant, president of the group, in the e-mail to the donors. Bauder told the Herald on Wednesday that he did not want to talk about the issue because he considers the negotiations ongoing. Grant's e-mail said the Friends' board is considering using the money to buy other land on the south side of Badger Mountain to preserve ridges and have more trails. But Grant said donors who gave specifically for acquiring property on Little Badger Mountain can ask to have their donations returned before the end of the 2008 tax year. Refund requests should be made in writing to Friends of Badger Mountain, 1701 Fanning Road, Pasco, WA 99301. For more information about the Friends of Badger Mountain and the project to buy land on Little Badger Mountain, go to www.friendsofbadger.org.

A popular hiking trail and natural habitat on Badger Mountain was severely torn up by a Kennewick man who said he was just out "doing some hill climbing" in his '85 Chevy truck. James Dunlap, 30, said he didn't set out to damage the Benton County park -- and in fact didn't even know it was a park. "I was unaware that it was illegal to go up there or anything like that," Dunlap said. "I was unaware there were trails on the hill. Why would anybody walk up a hill?" Benton County officials and Friends of Badger Mountain members, however, are in disbelief that someone would so callously destroy the land that was built by volunteers wanting to preserve the open space and scenic views in the area. "There's quite a lot of disappointment that people were actually so stupid to think they could tear up a place like that," said Jim Langdon, trailmaster for the Friends of Badger Mountain. "Why these guys felt they needed to be up there and four-wheel, I don't know." The trail's still open and is safe for hikers, but it'll take time and money to fix the damage, said Adam Fyall, Benton County's community development coordinator. "People are not allowed to go driving up there. There is an easement for operators of the tower, but at the bottom of the road there's a gate that says no unauthorized vehicles allowed," Fyall said. "Plus, it's a matter of common sense. ... People need to make sensible, responsible decisions and obey the rules." The destruction was reported to the sheriff's office at 7:15 a.m. Saturday after a hiker went about a quarter-mile up Canyon Trail and saw a white truck stuck in the gully below. The trail, which is lined with rocks weighing between 50 pounds and 200 pounds to keep the trail in place, was crossed at least three times. Several rocks were knocked off the trail, some falling quite a ways down the hill, Langdon said. Wide gouges and holes also were cut into the hillside's soft soil, he said. "We haven't fully figured out how to repair the damage yet," Langdon said. "The damage to the trail will have to wait until I get adequate soil moisture because it's all dusty up there. Replanting of native vegetation will take a while. "Most of it will be volunteer labor and there will be some costs associated with supplies," he added. The biggest challenge right now is figuring out how to remove Dunlap's truck from the ravine without causing more damage. The dirt is so soft and the gully is so steep, trying to tow it out will just tear up the ground even more, Langdon said. Lifting the truck out with a helicopter is likely the only solution that won't cause more damage, but the cost would be steep. Officials also don't know if the stuck truck poses any environmental hazards. "Not only has he torn up a big part of the mountain, we don't know if there's transmission fluid, oil, brake grease or more leaking out," Fyall said. "There's all kinds of things that have happened or still could happen. There's no quick fix." Sheriff's Lt. Brian White said Dunlap can expect to receive an infraction in the mail for taking a vehicle off the roadway in a designated county park or preserve. It wasn't clear how much the fine for that is, but White said the county also could request Dunlap be responsible for covering the cost of repairs. The sheriff's office also has forwarded the report to the prosecutor's office for a possible malicious mischief charge. No decision has been made yet. Dunlap said he didn't have any malicious intent when he and his brother went off-roading at 2 a.m. Saturday. He said they drove up a main road to the top of the hill, but didn't come across a gate or sign saying they couldn't be there. They were getting ready to drive back down when the brakes went out just as they crested the side of the hill, he said. "The truck didn't want to stop going. I slammed on the E-brake and we went down," he said. "I slid to the main trail and that's where the truck stopped. ... It was a wild ride." After fruitlessly trying to back the truck back up the hill, he tried backing it down through the ravine, but got stuck in a bunch of tumbleweeds. Dunlap said he's trying to see if he can run a bulldozer up the ravine to get the truck out, but Fyall said there's no way the county's going to let that happen. Dunlap plans to extract the truck this weekend. "I'm not going to destroy anything, and I'm going to fix anything I do," he said. "I didn't know there were trails up there. I guess I do now."

A truck stuck on the side of Badger Mountain will remain in a gully while officials discuss how to get it off the hillside without doing more damage. Adam Fyall, Benton County community development coordinator, said he'll meet with the truck owner and representatives of the Friends of Badger Mountain on Wednesday, but no decisions will be made this week. "We want to get this taken care of, but poor planning on your part does not make an emergency on my part," Fyall said of the owner's desire to retrieve his truck. The '85 Chevy pickup was stranded on the hill below Canyon Trail early Oct. 18 when James Dunlap, 30, of Kennewick, decided to do some "hill climbing." He said he didn't know motor vehicles were prohibited, or even that Badger Mountain was a Benton County park. Dunlap said the brakes went out after he crested the hill and turned to come back down. The careening truck gouged lines in the soil, tore out native vegetation and dislodged boulders from the hiking trail maintained by Friends of Badger Mountain. Jim Langdon, Friends of Badger Mountain trailmaster, said he noticed Friday that someone had broken windows out of the truck, and pleaded with park users to leave the pickup alone. "Just be patient; it's going to leave," he said. Fyall said the county is considering four options to remove the truck. Officials could use a winch to hoist the truck back up the hillside the same way it went down, using the tracks already cut into the soil. "But that would take some ingenuity on our part," Fyall said. Another option would be to find a way to bring it downhill from the gully, but that would damage more of the hillside and require permission from the city of Richland to bring the truck through its Badger Mountain Park below. The least-damaging option would be to airlift the truck with a commercial or military helicopter, but Fyall said that likely would be the most expensive option. The fourth option would be to declare the truck a total loss and cut it up into pieces to be carried out on foot. Whichever option the county picks, Dunlap will have to pay, Fyall said. "I have instructed (Friends of Badger Mountain) to log all of their volunteer hours and new materials -- boulders, gravel, all of that stuff," Fyall said. "I want them to account for it, and we will value it and pass the bill along." He said the truck isn't obstructing use of the trail, where Friends of Badger Mountain has scheduled a family fun hike at 1 p.m. Saturday. w Michelle Dupler: 582-1543; [email protected]