Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
J.W. trail meeting
J.W. Trail map
Ted Blaszak, left, president of the Tekoa Trestle and Trail Association, listens during a meeting at The Center in Colfax Tuesday night.
The John Wayne Pioneer Trail stretches from North Bend to the Idaho border. The section from the Columbia River to Malden is the subject of State Parks' budget proposals.
Ted Blaszak and the Tekoa Trestle and Trail Association (TTTA) have begun a campaign of area meetings to push legislators to fund work on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail.
After a year-and-a-half of advocacy – following the almost-closure of an eastern section of trail – the group is hosting a series of informational meetings with the goal to spur citizens to call representatives including Senate Majority Leader Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville.
The series began in Oakesdale Jan. 23 and continues in Pullman Feb. 22 and Pomeroy Feb. 23.
Last July, Washington State Parks released its budget request for the 2017-19 biennium, featuring $6,176,000 in permitting work for trailheads at Tekoa and Rosalia, trail development from Lind to Malden and Malden to Rosalia, plus tunnel and trestle repairs.
Governor Jay Inslee has included most of the parks recommendations in his proposed budget.
“Schoesler can red-line out the Tekoa trestle,” said Blaszak, referring to the proposal to deck the trestle and open it. “Will Democrats fight hard enough to un-red these lines?”
In January, Blaszak and other TTTA members from across the state spent a week in Olympia, meeting with 35 legislative offices, including 20 representatives, on both sides of the aisle.
Another Olympia trip is planned for later in February with a contingent solely from Tekoa.
“By the time we're done, we'll have visited every state legislator's office and met with at least half of our legislators in person,” Blaszak said.
He indicated he has found much support for the trail proposals, although Ninth District representatives may hold the most sway on the issue. Sen. Schoesler and Rep. Joe Schmick, also Ninth District, have expressed skepticism to the Gazette of the trail prospects in the legislative session which began Jan. 9.
The scheduled 105-day session includes the effort to pass a new budget to pay for a myriad of items – among them the State Parks’ proposals and the McCleary mandate to fully fund K-12 education.
“The money is in an envelope headed to us, and the only person stopping it is Mark Schoesler,” said Blaszak.
TTTA's Vice President Monte Morgan met with Schoesler last year.
“Leadership certainly has a lot of influence, even more so for things in their district,” said Daniel Farber, State Parks' policy and government affairs director.
In January, three more cities passed resolutions in support of the trail: Oroville, Snoqualmie and Waterville. A total of 45 cities have passed resolutions.
“That is more than one of every six cities in Washington,” Blaszak said.
MEETINGS
For the TTTA, the purposes of the new meetings are to make their case of how towns will benefit from the proposed funding and advocate for support by Schoesler and other lawmakers.
“We continue also to lobby the legislature to make the trail a better experience for the adjacent landowners,” said Blaszak.
The meetings will conclude in Pullman April 18.
Among trail work proposed by Inslee is decking the trestle at Tekoa, which has never been surfaced to allow for crossing. Surfacing the trestle to make it part of the John Wayne Trail has been one of the main goals of the TTTA, which formed after Blaszak and other Tekoa residents three years ago decided to decorate the Tekoa trestle for Christmas.
A petition urging approval of the funding package by the legislature is listed under savethejohnwaynetrail.com.
INTENTIONS
The failed budget proviso from 2015 would have closed a 135-mile trail section from the Columbia River to Malden until State Parks had the funding to properly take care of it – especially to lessen the burden on adjacent landowners.
By a statute in 2006, the eastern section of the John Wayne Trail was switched from the state's Department of Natural Resources to Washington State Parks. In 2008, the great recession set back Parks' plans for attention to the trail, which according to Farber, are now progressing with the inclusion of these trail projects in Inslee's proposed budget.
“Trying to meet their intentions,” said Farber. “When the legislature switched it from DNR to State Parks, we take that as, 'develop the trail.' If that's not their intentions, they won't fund the projects. We do our best to administer the agency in the manner the legislature intends.”
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Remaining community meeting dates sponsored by the TTTA are as follows. All start at 6 p.m.
Pullman-Feb. 22, Foundry Restaurant, 125 SE Spring Street; Pomeroy-Feb. 23, locations to be determined; Pasco-March 6, Cousins Restaurant, 4605 N Road 68; Lind-March 13, Slims Bar and Grill; Colton-March 14, Le Rendezvous Café; Malden-March 15, library; Connell-March 20, TBD; Othello-March 27, TBD; Ritzville-April 4, TBD; Pasco-April 11, Cousins Restaurant, and Pullman-April 18, Foundry.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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