Washington Council of Trout Unlimited—Klickitat Alternate Engagement Group hosted a special volunteer event at Klickitat Mile One March 22 that included planting seedlings and hiking. Pictured are Barbara Robinson, Sue VanLeuven and Bill Weiler.
Washington Council of Trout Unlimited—Klickitat Alternate Engagement Group hosted a special volunteer event at Klickitat Mile One March 22 that included planting seedlings and hiking. Pictured are Barbara Robinson, Sue VanLeuven and Bill Weiler.
LYLE — The sun came out just in time for the Washington Council of Trout Unlimited—Klickitat Alternate Engagement Group (WCTU—KAEG) volunteer appreciation/near completion event held at Klickitat Mile One (KMO) on March 22. Special guest speakers, including U.S. Forest Service (USFS)-Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area Supervisor Donna Mickley, and Barbara Robinson, Klickitat Trail Conservancy (KTC), helped explain the history of the site. A KTC one-mile group hike was led by President Ken Hansen, Steven Woolpert, and Bev Linde from the Lyle trailhead to the site.
Executive Director Margaret Neuman also spoke on conservation efforts of her Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group over the years at KMO. Neuman purchased additional Ponderosa Pine and Oregon White Oak trees to plant at the site.
Guests were served lunch provided by WCTU-KAEG to honor all volunteers. Event participants then planted trees, created a commemorative leather key chain to take home, and strolled around the site. There are now five large picnic tables, a restroom, and improved parking. Other improvements including some interpretive signage, trail work, and non-motorized boat/recreational access will soon be completed. Gary Gidley and Laurie Wilhite are cochairs of the local WCTU-KAEG Trout Unlimited group.
“It was an honor to spend the afternoon in such an important landscape within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area with such great partners and caretakers of Klickitat Mile One,” Mickley said. “It takes all of us to steward these special places.”
The USFS owns the 17 acres under renovation along the Wild and Scenic Klickitat River. The park is called Klickitat Mile One because of its location, just one mile upriver from the mouth of the Klickitat River. It has also been known as “No Name Park” and “County Park,” even though Klickitat County has never owned the 17-acre site. A renaming of this park by USFS is underway and will be announced as the project nears completion.
The WCTU-KAEG is one of several partners in this forest service project supported by Brance Morefield, Botanist. Lyle and Wishram students from the REACH afterschool program first came to plant in November 2023 with their mentors Kenji Stasiewicz, Megan Winn and Kristen Ringer. More than 200 native plants including milkweed, mock orange, bitter brush, desert parsley, and yarrow were purchased by the WCTU-KAEG for the conservation project along the Klickitat River at KMO.
Many of the native plants were purchased with a Trout Unlimited National Embrace a Stream Grant. One of the main goals of Trout Unlimited is to protect and enhance habitat for cold water fisheries including salmon, steelhead, and trout. The EAS grant funded approximately $2,000 to purchase the plants that year.
Other volunteers honored included Bill Spalding and Tom Fritsch, local fishermen/project supporters; Rhonna Lee, Don Wilhite, Olivia Holderman, Tony Paolino, Dan Bolton, Bill Weiler, Danny Cosgrove, and Patti Elliott. The Klickitat Trail Conservancy provided an information table about their organization. KTC President Ken Hansen and more than a dozen hikers joined the day to celebrate the volunteer work of former KTC president and native plant expert Barbara Robinson.
Trout Unlimited and Klickitat Trail Conservancy member Dan Enz said, “I had such a wonderful time helping young students from Lyle and Wishram plant native shrubs and trees at Mile One Park alongside the Klickitat River. The children were well behaved and eager to go to work and get their hands dirty. We had a diverse group of volunteers helping the students with this very important effort. The children that participated will see the fruits of their efforts materializing over time. They will take pride in the fact they contributed directly to the beautification of this park. Also, I’m proud of the fact that I contributed to the success of this new park and just maybe helped motivate a child to see the beauty in volunteering.”
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