TCH Juniper Editorial - July 21, 2010

[Grumpy]

Access to Juniper Dunes isn't area's only problem


For years, we've championed the need for public access to the Juniper Dunes Wilderness Area.

Almost since the day it was designated a wilderness area in 1984, access problems have made headlines.

At issue is that the wilderness is surrounded by private lands. The main access route is Peterson Road, a private drive maintained by local land owners.

Complaints of rude behavior, litter, dust, speeding and other problems created by wilderness area users have caused landowners to take measures as extreme as barricading the road at times.

Franklin County commissioners have long struggled with what to do about Juniper Dunes. A few bad apples have complicated the debate.

The area is an asset to Mid-Columbia residents who enjoy hiking or riding ATVs and horses on the open lands. But access shouldn't come at the expense of neighboring landowners.

Commissioners recently approved a six-year transportation improvement plan for 2011-16 that includes construction of a public road to Juniper Dunes.

The project Juniper is at the top of the list and could be completed in the next two years. Of course, there's an "if" in the equation, and it's a big one.

The county is banking on most of the funding for the $1.5 million road project coming from the federal government.

The trouble is, the Bureau of Land Management must figure out how to get the money to the county. As with all things government, it's bound to include lots of red tape and obscure rules.

But by making Juniper Dunes a priority and putting plans into motion that might finally solve this decades-old dilemma, Franklin County commissioners are on the right path.

The federal government created a wilderness area in a place with no public access, and it makes sense that it pick up the tab for the cost of a public road.

We've supported plans for improvements to Juniper Dunes in the past, but often they haven't made it past the drawing board.

The lack of bathroom facilities remains an issue, especially considering that many of the 20,000 annual visitors to the area spend an entire day there.

A plan for vault toilets was scrapped after the BLM couldn't find a suitable location on the 8,600 acres it had to work with. And temporary outhouses were quickly demolished with shotgun blasts, a poor showing for folks who visit the area.

Opening a public road and completing other improvements are crucial to the future of Juniper Dunes, but no more important than the actions of those who visit the site.

The wilderness area is a playground and an asset for us all. Treat it with the esteem it deserves. If the users of Juniper Dunes fail to do that, it's a sure bet that no one will want to work to create better amenities out in the desert.

[iaccocca]

OK. I found the article online at TriCity Herald, but it shows no author. Is this the editorial opinion of the Herald? I find it too negative regarding the behavior of users, especially when so much damage is done by so few. And, it understates the importance of getting legal access. I imagine most landowners will be a lot happier when Petersen Road is not a series of washboard and whoop-t-doo sections, even if they have issues with some users. If I get more than two minutes free today I’ll right some sort of response.

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2010/07/21/1099789/access-to-juniper-dunes-isnt-areas.html

[Grumpy]

I have already responded, but the more the merrier! Read mine, then hit what I may have neglected to mention...

[iaccocca]

Up on my soap box too...

[Grumpy]

Juniper Dunes access nears
By Kristi Pihl, Herald staff writer

Josh Del Carlo, 22, of Richland blasts up a dune road as he spends a day racing around Juniper Dunes in Franklin County. County officials are working on taking over the first two miles of Peterson Road to allow better public access to the dunes. See story below.
County officials hope to be a step closer to securing public access to the Juniper Dunes Wilderness Area east of Pasco next year by taking over the first two miles of a private road leading to the public land.

Peterson Road, which is privately owned and maintained, is the most popular route to access Juniper Dunes, a popular area for off-road vehicles. But landowners along the road periodically have blocked it off because of problems with people using the road without permission to reach the dunes.

Tim Fife, Franklin County public works director, said the department's preliminary 2011 budget includes money to buy right of way for the first two miles of Peterson Road off the Pasco-Kaholtus Road.

The county will receive $700,000 from the federal Bureau of Land Management, which manages the wilderness, to purchase access and improve the road.

Congressman Doc Hastings authored the legislation that secured the money for Juniper Dunes access, said Mark Hatchel, BLM lands and realty specialist.

The road is dirt and gravel and is not up to county standards. Fife said the county hopes to pave the first two miles, but that will depend on funding and the cost, which still is being determined.

Juniper Dunes, with its large sand dunes, has been a popular regional outdoor recreation area for decades. Although it became a wilderness area in 1984, there never has been public access to the property, part of which is open to off-road vehicles and part of which is wilderness closed to all vehicles.

This year, about 32,238 visitors came to Juniper Dunes, said Molly Cobbs, spokeswoman for the BLM office in Spokane. The agency has traffic counters at the primary parking area.

Although making the first two miles of Peterson Road public will help, it won't be enough to provide full public access to the wilderness. There are two more miles before the road reaches the Juniper Dunes boundary, and those miles cross a mix of public and private land, Hatchel said.

BLM is in preliminary stages of seeking public access for that portion of the road, Cobbs said.

Hatchel said efforts to secure public access to Juniper Dunes have been going on for decades.

"If it was an easy process it would have taken place 20 years ago," he said. "I think we are very close to accomplishing the first step of that process."

Franklin County Commissioner Rick Miller said Juniper Dunes is an important tourist attraction and recreation site, and the commissioners have been pushing federal legislators to secure public access to the area.

"We are finally getting somewhere," he said.

[Grumpy]

Sure nice the local off road groups have been included. Not like we haven't let them know our opinions

[Grumpy]

The Tacoma paper ran this story, and WildlandsCPR picked it up! Really don't need to be on their radar