— Advertisement —

With John Wayne Trail seemingly protected for now, group from Tekoa outlines steps to make it great

Hikers on the trail. Photo from the Tekoa Trail and Trestle Association
Hikers on the trail. Photo from the Tekoa Trail and Trestle Association

The John Wayne Trail appears safe from legislative giveaway, at least for now.

The Tekoa Trail and Trestle Association (“TTTA”) from the far east end of the statewide John Wayne Pioneer Trail (AKA the Iron Horse Trail) sent an email to supporters Tuesday announcing that Rep. Joe Schmick does not plan to reintroduce legislation that nearly gave away the state trail to adjacent landowners last year.

As we reported previously, that trail giveaway was attached to the Capital Budget and, therefore, did not go through the normal hearing and public process before getting passed. A typo in the law made it invalid, however, and delivered a wake-up call to people and communities who love it and dream of a more developed and usable trail someday. This includes Ted Blaszak, President of the TTTA and member of the Tekoa City Council. Blaszak has worked tirelessly on the issue in recent months, essentially organizing a campaign of urgent trail support from the ground up.


— Advertisement —

The series of public hearings on the trail in recent months, co-organized by the TTTA and Rep. Schmick’s Office, gathered feedback about the trail and got landowners and trail supporters in the same room. Some of the concerns about the trail have to do with inadequate weed control and illegal uses, including dumping.

Many of these issues could be helped if there were more users, but a lack of development of the trail, water access and a restrictive permitting process present significant impediments to use.

While many of the trail challenges will likely require significant investment, some issues can be handled without any budget. In particular, the TTTA has focused on removing the permit restrictions so people can use the state trail freely. And they also have some ideas for how you can get involved.

Details from the TTTA email:

We greet the New Year with good news! In a recent Colfax Gazette article, State Rep. Joe Schmick has stated he will abandon his efforts to close the John Wayne Pioneer Trail!

This is a cause for celebration. Just a few short months ago he was committed to correcting the typo that thwarted his previous proviso. Now, rather than hand over 6,000 acres of the only cross state trail in Washington to adjacent landowners, the John Wayne Pioneer Trail (JWPT) will remain open!

There is no doubt that the hundreds of people who attended recent public meetings, cohosted by both the TTTA and  Rep. Schmick, made it loud and clear, not just Tekoa, but the vast majority of Washingtonians want to keep their only cross state trail open.

This message was reinforced by the passage of 14 different city resolutions asking the state legislature to fund the trail rather than close it. These are: Tekoa, Spokane, Cheney, Rosalia, Lind, Palouse, Colfax, Pullman, Cle Elum, Royal City, Rockford, Latah, Ellensburg and Roslyn.

We cannot help but feel some disappointment however, as our victory was less than total. At these meetings a list of problems that the trail is suffering from were presented to Rep. Schmick, Rep. Dye and Sen. Schoesler, all of the 9th district legislative in which about half of the trail runs through. The meetings were timed so that they would have an opportunity to introduce a bill for the current legislative session for some trail improvements, which Rep. Schmick said he would consider doing. But instead they have chosen to take no legislative action at all, not even for any of the trail related problems that drove them to attempt to close the trail altogether in 2015.

On the other hand, we are encouraged that the State Parks Department has begun a process to solicit recommendations for better trail management, but Parks is limited in what it can do.

Legislative action is required to make many of the improvements the trail needs. In particular, the removal of the special JWPT permit requirements for people to use the trail.

Right now, there are signs all along the trail that say you must receive a special permit before you can walk or bike there. The permit is difficult to find and once you get it, 30+ large acreage landowners will be given your information by the state and these folks have been known to confront trail users they spot, demanding them to present their papers.

No other park or trail in the entire state of Washington has these type special permit requirements even though they are all adjacent to private land. Not on a beach, a mountain, or in any valley are WA landowners given such an entitlement that strongly discourages the public’s use of park land like they do here.

The permits can only be removed by an act of the legislature. Olympia needs to take action, and *now* please.

Our small town economies are being affected. Last year, Tekoa had three restaurants now we have two. We once had 3,000 citizens, now we are down to 843. We need the trail that runs by our town, it helps our small economy, it provides jobs and we do not need this type of legislative to make it harder for us.

Hence the officers of the TTTA have decided to continue to lobby the WA state legislature to make the John Wayne Trail to be more accessible.

4 things you can do to help now

1. Attend our next state wide phone meeting

Thursday, January 21, 6 p.m.

Conference Call Number: 641-715-3580 Access code: 550-295#

Several Committee Captains will report their activities and solicit your input, including the committees of the Web Site, WA press, Natl press, Organization endorsements, Fund raising for trail completion, Litter patrol,    City Resolutions, and Trail ride plans for both horses and bikes. We will have these phone calls every two weeks (please see the attached calendar).

2. Join us in Olympia next week

Save the John Wayne Pioneer Trail Press Conference —  Friday, January 29, 9 a.m. Legislative building north steps, Olympia Capitol Building Campus

The Parks and Great Outdoors Legislative Day — Thursday, January 28, all day (you must pre-register)

3. E-mail many state legislators particularly yours

4. Spread the word via social media, letters to the editor, whatever way you can think of

Related posts:

Comments

8 responses to “With John Wayne Trail seemingly protected for now, group from Tekoa outlines steps to make it great”

  1. Dave Parsons

    I emailed all 3 of my state legislators to ask for support for the trail. This seems like a no brainer. It’s also great that the town of Tekoa sees the trail as an opportunity. I’m looking forward to some day riding across the state on that trail and visiting them.

    Dave

    1. Dave, will you email me a copy of the letter you sent to your state legislators? I am compiling “templates” for the website… http://www.johnwaynepioneertrail.org/links.html … a source for making it easy for people to communicate interest in the John Wayne Pioneer Trail.

      Thanks.

      Robert

      1. Dave Parsons

        Unfortunately I just typed it into the legislative website and copy/pasted for each one. This is a great starting point for finding your representatives: http://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/. I decided to concentrate on the first step, removing the stupid permit requirement. It was something like this:

        Please support the John Wayne Pioneer Trail. This public trail has been threatened in past legislative sessions. As an avid bicyclist, I would like to see the trail not only protected but improved. At the very least, please remove the current, unnecessary permitting process for using the trail. I’m not aware of any other public, state right of way that requires prior permit approval.

    2. Gary

      Super easy, didn’t even have to paste the message. Just clicked the “CC” my other representatives at the bottom of the form.

      The permitting requirements are just ridiculous. If I lived in an adjacent town I’d be hopping mad that I had file for the permit to ride my bike on this. And as a kid, I’d be thumbing my nose at those regulations.

  2. Rob

    Tonight the Tekoa Trail & Trestle Association is having a conference call to discuss the future of the trail and what we can do to participate.
    Here is the invitation:
    Save the John Wayne Pioneer Trail Reminder
    Our First state wide conference call is
    Tonight 6pm – 7pm (Jan 21)641-715-3580 Access code: 550-295#
    Please join us and hear updates and share your ideas.
    How we stopped Schmick
    How we’re getting more funding and rid of the stupid permits
    Our first Press Conference at the State Capitol Fri Jan 29 9am
    Plans for Bike and Horse Rides this summer
    Big Tent Rally Feb 3rd
    More City resolutions
    Become a committee captain
    Our really cool new website
    http://www.johnwaynepioneertrail.org/

    Sponsored by the Tekoa Trail and Trestle Association

  3. nullbull

    Color me suspicious of this whole “weed” issue. It sounds like the latest red-herring-excuse to call for throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

    Am I supposed to believe “because there are weeds over there on that land, it should be seized and put under a smaller local jurisdiction which I can rely upon to be less interested in stewardship and more likely to let me as a local landowner do whatever I want with it.”

    Because of weeds. What do they do with other private landowners who allow weeds to go crazy on their land? Seize it and give it to a small local jurisdiction that allows them to use the land how they want?

    No they don’t. But that’s exactly what they want done if it’s federal land. Because of weeds.

    Really?

  4. Great news! Great job keeping things rolling along. :)

  5. ted blaszak

    Thank you for you kind words and your continued coverage our movement as we wage every effort we can to improve the JWPT and make it accessible to all without hindrance. I believe you are recording an important foot note in our state’s history books, Tom. Thank you.

— Advertisement —

Join the Seattle Bike Blog Supporters

As a supporter, you help power independent bike news in the Seattle area. Please consider supporting the site financially starting at $5 per month:


Latest stories

Bike Events Calendar

Mar
28
Thu
7:15 pm Point83 @ Westlake Park
Point83 @ Westlake Park
Mar 28 @ 7:15 pm
Point83 @ Westlake Park
Meet up in the center of the park at 7ish. Leave at 730. Every Thursday from now until forever rain or shine. Bikes, beers, illegal firepits, nachos, bottlerockets, timetraveling, lollygagging, mechanicals, good times.ShareMastodonTwitterFacebookRedditEmail
Apr
2
Tue
6:30 pm West Seattle Bike Connections mo… @ Online
West Seattle Bike Connections mo… @ Online
Apr 2 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
 ShareMastodonTwitterFacebookRedditEmail
7:30 pm NW Greenways Meeting @ Virtual via Zoom
NW Greenways Meeting @ Virtual via Zoom
Apr 2 @ 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Our regularly scheduled meeting, happens every other month. Please check NW Greenways Twitter account – https://twitter.com/NWGreenways, our Google Group – https://goo.gl/W9jmzW or our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/NWGreenways/) to confirm the meeting. ShareMastodonTwitterFacebookRedditEmail
Apr
3
Wed
6:00 pm Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board M…
Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board M…
Apr 3 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Monthly agendas can be found at: http://www.seattle.gov/seattle-bicycle-advisory-board/meetings/meeting-agendas The Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board (SBAB) advises the Mayor, City Council, and City Departments and Divisions on projects, policies, and programs that improve and/or affect bicycling conditions in[…]
Apr
4
Thu
7:15 pm Point83 @ Westlake Park
Point83 @ Westlake Park
Apr 4 @ 7:15 pm
Point83 @ Westlake Park
Meet up in the center of the park at 7ish. Leave at 730. Every Thursday from now until forever rain or shine. Bikes, beers, illegal firepits, nachos, bottlerockets, timetraveling, lollygagging, mechanicals, good times.ShareMastodonTwitterFacebookRedditEmail
— Advertisements —

Latest on Mastodon

Loading Mastodon feed…