Trails team receives grant to build Heron Trail

The Trails Planning Team was the recent recipient of a $500 grant from the Jim Campbell, Senior Memorial Fund, which is administered by the Columbia Basin Foundation.

The project is to build the Heron Trail, a multi-use park-to-park pedestrian trail in the form of a boardwalk. The grant funds will be specifically used to help pay for interpretive signs along the boardwalk, especially for children. The Heron Trail will connect McCosh Park over the wetlands to the Japanese Gardens. The trail will provide close public viewing opportunities of a wetland area that is a major migration path for more than 70 species of birds.

The Heron Trail Project has roots and ramifications at the local, state and national levels. The City of Moses Lake was selected by the Washington Department of Health as a pilot community to develop strategies to improve the health of its citizens, especially in fighting obesity. The funding came from the National Centers for Disease Control. After an assessment of the community in 2002, the Trails Planning Team was formed to encourage walking and biking for exercise and communing.

The Heron Trail design was a direct result of a 3-day trail design workshop, where landscape architects came from throughout Washington to work with more than 50 local citizens, the National Park Service, the Department of Health, the Center for Disease Control, the Department of Transportation, and city staff.

The Heron Trail received the most enthusiasm and votes as the first project to be built. To accomplish this, an application is in progress to the Interagency for Outdoor Recreation Committee. The entire cost of the project will exceed $600,000. The importance of the Jim Campbell, Senior Memorial Fund grant proceeds is that they will actually double as a result of the application to the Interagency for Outdoor Recreation.

The Trails Planning Team has won two statewide competitions for its broad community support for trails and paths. The future challenge of the team is to encourage young people to incorporate more physical activity into their lifestyles.

The Heron Trail with its interpretive signs will help them meet this challenge.