*** Focuses On Improving Wenatchee's Trails ***

Wenatchee, Washington — 06/28/2005
The future of the city’s paths and trails received
a boost this weekend, thanks to three days’ worth of ideas.

The design workshop “Wenatchee Foothills Trails Connections”
brought to Wenatchee Valley College 14 landscape architects
and civil engineers from places such as Milwaukee, Los Angeles,
and Eugene, Ore., plus 17 local residents hoping to revolutionize
the long-term and short-term future of the city’s western foothills’
trails.

The workshop focused on finding ways to improve the design
of the western foothills’ trailheads and the connection between
them and downtown, as well as other trails.

During the three-day workshop, the 31 participants split
into two groups, each focusing on one of these two areas.

On Sunday, the results of two days of touring, drawing and
brainstorming were presented to the public during an open
house at Stanley Civic Center.

Hans Slette, director of the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust,
called the workshop not a plan of action as much as it was
a place to look at concepts.

“It’s a long process,” he said.
“Everything is up for longer review.”

The next step will be to put together a rough draft of all the
ideas from the workshop and show it to county and city authorities,
as well as to the community, in order to gain their approval and their
suggestions.

“The workshops that are successful are the ones that can show
they are something the community values,” said Sue Abbott,
spokeswoman of National Parks Service, which co-sponsored
this workshop.

The rough draft may come out at the soonest late this summer,
Slette said.

Among the ideas discussed was turning the
trailheads into educational and service hubs.

A kiosk at the trailhead could carry basic information about
the trail’s features. Trailheads could have several parking spots,
running water, a picnic area and an outdoor classroom.

The second group dealt with finding ways to connect the foothills’
trails with the city’s central area and the Apple Capital Recreation
Loop Trail.

A way to connect the trails to the urban areas would be
to bring some of the trails’ features to the streets of Wenatchee.

Will Sinclair, a landscape architect from Liberty Lake, near
Spokane, said a connection could be established by bringing
trail-themed signage, as well as creating spots with flora from
the foothills.

Sarah Schrock, a graduate student on landscape architecture
from the University of Oregon, said that another idea would be
to eliminate parking on one side of a street, creating a buffer of
foothills vegetation between city traffic and pedestrians.

Information and education would be key components on both
the connection to the city and the improvement of the foothills’
trailheads.

The same way the land between the foothills and the river
would be home to a “sageway” connecting both ends, the
canal found west of the city would be labeled a “farmway.”

“By labeling it a farmway, we recognize that (farming) is key
to the area,” said Jennifer Olsen Fielder, president of Silverline
Projects, an outdoor design and construction firm from Wenatchee.

At the same time, improving the trails broadens the horizons of
Wenatchee beyond farming and agriculture, said Korey Korfiaitis
of Wenatchee.

“It’s a chance to enhance the future through recreation and education,”
he said. “It’s not just apples and agriculture to our community.”

** Trail ideas - Possible future steps for Wenatchee foothills’ trails:

* Encourage organizations to expand their existing
programs’ scope to include rivers-to-foothills walks.

* Promote community health and wellness using the trails system

* Support the concept of a farmway along the Highline Canal
that embraces existing agricultural heritage and recreational use.

* Incorporate art at trailheads and in signs,
use foothills images and colors in the downtown area.

* Develop and strengthen youth programs that get kids out
on trails and create opportunities for environmental education.

* Partner with city leaders and developers to promote the
economic and ecological benefits of preserving open space.
Adopt ordinances that protect open space and incorporate
community trails into residential development.

* Reach out to the Hispanic community by placing articles and
trail events in El Mundo. Develop trail brochures in Spanish.

* Install foothills-related art and place
trail brochures at Columbia Station.

* Create a comprehensive Wenatchee outdoors guide that includes
a map of the trails that link parks, open space and cultural
destinations.

CC - http://www.genesbmx.com/sagehills.html
ACC - http://www.genesbmx.com/WenatcheeBikingInfo.html

Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
All Things Northwest in BMX!
***** Gene`s BMX *****
http://www.genesbmx.com