The Chamna Natural Preserve has become the most popular park for multi-use in the region. Sometimes popularity comes with price and being loved to death is one of those problems. The REI grant will attempt to deal with the problem of educating diverse users and proper stewardship of the preserve by installing a kiosk with information on proper trail etiquette and some detail about the preserve. We will also be looking to improve the visual gateway around the trailhead with landscaping improvements. We will need a cast of volunteers once the work gets underway, so keep an eye on the web site calendar to announce our workdays at the Chamna trailhead.

The City of Richland will be contributing to the effort with materials and equipment. This marks the fourth grant that REI has given to Tapteal. The first grant funded the YOU ARE HERE signs in the Chamna Natural Preserve. We hope this effort will improve your experience at Chamna. As REI would put it, "GET OUT THERE".

I am pleased to report that the City of Benton City has awarded a contract for first-phase construction of a hard-surfaced trail connection within the City that secures a critical piece of the Tapteal Greenway Trail (TGT). This work should be completed by September.

For background, the 1996 flood did immense damage to transmission infrastructure of the Kiona Irrigation District (KIID), whose main canal runs right through Benton City and beyond. Fortunately, KIID was able to get assistance with important upgrades to their system, which included taking their water out of open, unlined canals and placing it into a safer, more efficient, pressurized pipe system. The canals were filled-in, but the full rights-of-way (ROW) were retained by the District.

In the years since, the Greenway has worked with the community, with the City, and with the District to get the ROW preserved as a public trailway. This linkage is essential for completion of the TGT as we have always envisioned it, because there is no other way to get from the Horn Rapids Park area to the Kiona area through Benton City. The KIID ROW is the only realistic option.

During this project, an urbanesqe asphalt trail will be built within the ROW from the area around the tennis courts, winding through town, and on to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) property which is along the river, upstream of the bridge, and bordering 14th Street. Going forward, the Greenway will work with the Benton City community to site and build a parallel soft-surface trail along this route that fits better with our trail mission that includes equestrian, hiking, and mountain bike uses. There is no time frame for this work.

The City’s project secures this section of ROW as a public transportation and recreational use area. This will also mark the final two miles of the TGT which begins at Bateman Island and will end at the DFW property and will eventually have a length of about 31 miles (50k). With critical elements coming together in the past couple of years such as the SR 240 causeway improvements at the Yakima Delta and the DuporTrail link between Chamna Preserve and Johnson Park, we can now start to see the full Tapteal Greenway Trail becoming a reality. We must not let-off the gas now.

Kudos should be recognized for the Kiona Irrigation District who has stepped-up to support this project on their right-of-way, for the City of Benton City who has stuck with the project and will provide most of the funding, for Benton County who will also assist with funding, and to the Benton City Economic Development Committee who has championed recreational amenities like this trail project as a beneficial community resource and an attraction for locals and dollar-spending visitors alike.

I look forward to providing you updates throughout the rest of the year.