State parks awarded grants

The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board announced July 3 it will award almost $4 million to Whitman County for preservation of parks, forests and trails. The grants will go through 2020.

The Washington Department of Natural Resources was awarded $1,238,510 to preserve Steptoe Butte.

DeAnna Beck, Washington Recreation and Conservation Office outdoor grants manager, said the department plans to buy about 437 acres in the Steptoe Butte surrounding area from private landowners.

She said the state plans to designate the purchased land as either a Natural Area Preserve area or a Natural Resources Conservation area.

A Natural Area Preserve retains the best remaining ecological sites with no impact from the public, and a Natural Resources Conservation area preserves an ecosystem for endangered plants and animals with low impact from the public.

Beck wrote in an email the Steptoe Butte area houses three rare plants including Spalding's catchfly and mariposa-lily species, four priority plant communities and one rare earthworm species.

The state parks commission also was awarded a grant for the Palouse to Cascades Trail, formerly known as the John Wayne Pioneer Trail.

The grant will be used to grade three trail and road intersections using crushed rock. A trailhead in Malden will be established.

The project also includes two picnic shelters, a new interpretive sign and eleven new parking slots.

State Parks will contribute $80,000. The grant is from the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program.

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission received $1,014,114 to restore a 975-foot-long Tekoa trestle.

Brian Patnode, Washington State Parks Department park planner, said a deck will be placed on the Tekoa trestle .

The trestle has been blocked off since the state acquired the former Milwaukee Railroad right-of-way for the trail.

The project will include removal of the trestle ties, installment of a concrete deck and railing, minor structural repairs and installment of interpretive and directional signs.

Patnode said the planning process will start in the fall or early spring, then construction will commence.

Karl Jacobs, grant manager for the project, said the trestle project is partially funded. The trestle renovation was “right on the line,” for the ranking of park projects.

He said the project request asked for $1.6 million, but parks was only awarded with $1,014,114. State Parks will contribute about $83,775 in equipment use, labor and materials.

“In the future if projects fall through, we'll move money until this project is fully funded,” Jacobs vowed.