Access to Barbecue Flats

[SPR]

FYI. I believe the Ron Rutherford of the PNW was involved with the issue as well.


SELAH, Wash. — The road to Barbecue Flats, a popular destination for campers, horseback riders and hunters, will once again be open in the not-too-distant future. Or some version of the road anyway.

Last week, officials with the Department of Natural Resources, working with state Rep. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, and recreation groups such as the Backcountry Horsemen of Washington, solidified agreements with local landowners to obtain a right-of-way that will allow regular public access as early as this summer.

As part of the arrangement, the Natural Resources Department will trade 80 acres to a private landowner and purchase another 560 acres with funding of $500,000, approved by the 2013 Legislature at Warnick’s request. The department is purchasing a 60-foot-wide right-of-way of what is now Maloy Road in order to build a new road circumventing privately held land and will then put up sturdy fencing between the public right-of-way and the private property.

Recreationists around the state have missed being able to get to Barbecue Flats, outside Selah, without having to come in from the other direction, a very long and winding road by way of Bald Mountain. The Maloy Road access to Barbecue Flats and its historic horse camp had been gated two years ago by landowners tired of dealing with recreationists who cut fences and left behind piles of trash.

An alternative access plan that had been considered, which would have meant a reopening to Barbecue Flats by some time in 2016, had been nixed by the private landowners several months ago.

“So we brought them back to the table and were able to work out another strategy,â€