Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Steptoe CAMP meeting
An estimated 20 people gathered at the Center in Colfax Feb. 26 for a planning meeting put on by Washington State Parks for Steptoe Butte State Park.
A main question facing the park was addressed as Ray and John Folwell, and Kent Bassett were in attendance to listen to Michael Hankinson, a representative from State Parks, and John Gamon, from the state’s Department of Natural Resource.
The Folwells and Bassett bought a 437-acre piece of land at the base of the Butte in 2016 to preserve as native prairie. Since then they have been in contact with the State Parks department, among other organizations which have shown interest in buying the land.
The private acreage is adjacent to the state park land which does not include the entire butte.
At the Colfax meeting, two county commissioners and a port commissioner listened.
“From the beginning, our priorities were to maintain the Palouse prairie and open it to the public as much as possible,” said Joan Folwell.
Both State Parks and the DNR have confirmed their interest in the land, each with a deadline of July 1 to apply for funding for any purchase.
From the meeting in Colfax, which entity would make an offer is still not set.
“We didn’t get an idea of a real clear distinction between the two,” Joan Folwell said. “We’d like to pursue conversations with both agencies further.”
Bassett noted to the crowd that they will listen to and accommodate the public input gathered at the meeting and through the public comment period.
A purchase by State Parks could come with different rules for access than DNR, and vice versa.
“If there are limitations the party we sell to has, we’ll have to abide by those,” Folwell said.
The meeting featured talks by Hankinson, State Parks planner, and Gamon, DNR assistant manager of the Conservation, Recreation and Transaction division.
“There was no identified next step or time frame set,” Gamon said of the meeting. “But I think we all agreed to keep the conversation going.”
Another idea put forward that night was to spend funding to widen the approach road to the top of the Butte with bike and pedestrian lanes. In addition, weed control on any acquired land was also noted as a concern.
Parks’ planning for both Steptoe Butte and Steptoe Battlefield involves three main objectives: classify park lands to determine the appropriate level of recreational use, delineate a long-term park boundary to identify lands with shared management objectives or that may be appropriate for transfer, and to prepare a park management plan for each park.
Washington State Parks has completed land-use plans for almost 100 parks around the state. They address recreational and trail use, day-use opportunities, natural and cultural resources, and other topics of interest to the community.
The public comment period remains open for the Steptoe process. Comments may be given by contacting Hankinson at, (360) 902-8671 or [email protected].
Steptoe Butte and its 3,612-foot summit is a 150-acre day-use park.
Steptoe Battlefield State Park heritage site at Rosalia is where the 1858 battle occurred between U.S. Army forces led by Col. Edward Steptoe and members of several Native American tribes.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
Reader Comments(0)