Saturday, January 31, 2004
By Brian Mittge bmittge@chronline.com, The Chronicle
A mix of idealism, pragmatism and legal punishment are combining into plans for an unusual path that opens up a mile of the Chehalis River to the public.
The city of Centralia and an environmental group have begun work on what is envisioned as a riverside trail on the city's 360-acre wastewater treatment plant property north of Fords Prairie.
Eventually the path, which briefly crosses into Thurston County, will be open for hiking, use by school groups and unmotorized boat access to a wide, placid stretch of the chocolate-colored river.
When finished, the path would be made from "hog fuel," shredded wood that can be easily replaced if the area floods.
Right now, the path runs along a gravel road and through pasture on the former cattle farm.
Money from an environmental penalty against power company TransAlta last summer, along with a variety of state and federal grants, is being used to help pay for part of the reforestation and path creation.
Volunteers with the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust have already begun planting 19 varieties of native seedlings along the trail, which winds through trees along the short, steep river bank.
City workers used equipment to dig holes, and will water the saplings this summer.
"It's been almost like marriage," said Centralia Utilities Director Dick Southworth said of the partnership. "You meet, everything clicks." Just before a pounding rain hit this week, a group of river lovers toured the property, walking along the prospective route of the trail.
Rob Schanz, a hydrologist from the Pe Ell area, pointed out two bald eagle nests in tall cottonwood trees across the river.
While walking through tangles of grass in a grove of maples, he managed to snap a digital picture of a young deer curled up near an overturned stump nearby before it hopped away.
Janet Strong, a lead organizer of the project, hopes the path will open to school groups as early as this fall.
"To get people to love nature they need to be out in it," she said.
Strong, who lives in McCleary, is president of the land trust, which is coordinating part of the path work.
"There's going to be access to the public, but we need to work with the city to find out when and how much," Strong said.
City organizers say there is no definite date.
The first order of business is to get the city's new $37 million wastewater treatment plant operating. Testing is going on now. A dedication is tentatively planned for this summer.
For now, the river restoration area is open by appointment only. Heavy gates bar the entrance, and a full-time caretaker watches over the property.
How to keep the land secure against vandalism and people safe is part of the public access plan that hasn't been figured out yet, Southworth said.
Grant money is paying for most of the actual path construction and tree plantings.
The state's Salmon Recovery Funding Board gave an $83,200 grant, most of which is being used to buy the 13,000 trees that will be planted in a 200-foot-wide strip along the river.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife gave $36,673.
TransAlta is donating $50,000, part of a $60,000 penalty levied against the company in July after the Centralia power plant and coal mine failed to control and treat runoff that dumped mud and clay into Hanaford Creek, which drains into the Chehalis River.
The company had originally been fined $24,000 in April 2002, but the penalty was increased when the state Department of Ecology noticed that the runoff problems had continued after the first fine.
Southworth praised TransAlta and the arrangement.
"When you fine somebody, isn't it better to put that money back into an environmental cause?" Southworth said.
Centralia is putting in about $22,000, much of that in donated labor.
The city also renovated an old barn at the property, hoping to flood-proof it and turn it into an environmental learning center The land trust, operated out of a downtown Centralia storefront, has signed an agreement with the landowners across the river from the proposed path to protect the tall trees and cliff from development or logging.
This makes for a picturesque vista along the pathway, with alders, cottonwood trees and dogwoods lining a gravel bank where otters sometimes play.
The only similar river access along the Chehalis is at Fort Borst Park in Centralia, the Rails to Trails path west of Chehalis, and Rainbow Falls Park near Pe Ell, according to Strong and Schanz.
Their river group is also working with the Chehalis Foundation to help open up access at Alexander Park, where the Newaukum River flows into the Chehalis River.
From the city of Centralia's standpoint, the river path project combines environmental protection, enhanced recreation and shrewd regulatory negotiations.
When the land trust plants seedlings along the bank, the river is shaded, providing better habitat for salmon that need cold water.
This could help Centralia as it negotiates with regulators about the warm water that comes from the discharge pipes of its nearby wastewater treatment plant.
The City of Chehalis is grudgingly building a complex tree plantation to suck up its treated wastewater during the summer. Centralia hopes it will still be able to dump into the river, in part because of this tree planting project.
"That's a primary purpose ... to keep our regulatory risks under control, and at the same time if you do this right you get a great potential to enhance the whole community," Southworth said.
Looking into the future, the city wants to work with neighbors to create a longer path that winds five miles along the river and connects with Fort Borst Park.
Such a path would open up access to the river, which Southworth called the area's grandest natural attraction.
"It's a wonderful resource, and here you're finally capturing that for the whole public," he said.
David Eatwell, Centralia's downtown economic development coordinator, said the trail would be a good start toward a larger system of greenbelts and hiking trails, especially along the Skookumchuck River near downtown.
He helped coordinate volunteers who put together part of what is now a 140-mile path around the rivers and sloughs of Portland.
"Certainly they add a lot to the image of the city for people who visit," Eatwell said, "but in reality the most important thing is it adds a lot to the livability of Centralia for the people who live here."
Brian Mittge covers politics, the environment and Lewis County government for The Chronicle. He may be reached by e-mail at bmittge@chronline.com, or by telephoning 807-8237.
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