Are Trails in our Future?

DAYTON— An organization in Walla Walla called the Community Council is meeting to work on strategies for enhancing outdoor recreation opportunities. Based on their 2015 report, Enhancing Outdoor Recreation Opportunities, the Council is recommending development of a network of connected trails for hiking and biking. Their focus is on Burbank to Dayton and from the Snake River to Milton-Freewater.

“Trails are getting more popular and we want to tie in to that,” said Columbia County Senior Planner Greg Abramson, who has been attending the Community Council meetings Walla Walla, since March.

Abramson and other planners, environmental health officials and public health officials are discussing how best to achieve that goal.

He said the recommendation calls for increased recreational opportunities in the Blue Mountain foothills near population centers, with access created through developing new trailheads.

“For instance, we could have trails up to, say, the Rainwater Wildlife Management Area,” Abramson said. “Plus we would reap the benefit of tourism dollars,” he said.

Abramson said there are a dozen different government agencies involved.

Representatives from Waitsburg, Milton-Freewater, Army Corps of Engineers, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Port of Walla Walla, Port of Columbia, City of Dayton, Benton-Franklin Council of Governments and the Palouse Regional Transportation Planning Organization are just a few entities at the table, he said.

“With a larger group there is a powerful attraction for support, and a larger organization will help in leveraging support from the State and Federal governments,” Abramson said.

Abramson said the Washington Trails Association and the National Parks Service are coming on board, and will help to provide technical assistance with infrastructure.

“The next step is to gather letters of support from elected officials,” he said.

Abramson said those will be taken to the next Community Council meeting.

At the Community Economic Development Steering Committee meeting in December, participants took a survey asking them to identify the top three programs in Columbia County needing the most support, and bike trails came in at number two, between schools and the hospital.