Funded Projects
The 1% for Public Lands program collected $20,000* to distribute as grants for 2023-2024! The following projects received funding:
Blewett Pass Trails Maintenance
Central Cascades Recreation Association
$2,000
The Central Cascades Recreation Association seeks access to winter recreation in the Central Cascades, with a current focus on trails along the Naneum Crest impacted by the 2012 Wenatchee Mountain Fires. Many of those trails are closed every year by fallen burned trees, so the funds will be used to purchase tools and protective equipment for CCRA's certified sawyer volunteers.
Big Sandy Trail Construction
Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance
$5,000
The Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance is Washington's largest mountain bike organization, and the Kittitas Chapter aims to improve riding in Kittitas County through sustainable trail construction. They have taken lead on connecting the Towns to Teanaway trail system with the West Fork Teanaway Campground via the construction of a new 4.3 mile nonmotorized trail informally known as 'Big Sandy'. This grant helps to complete the fundraising necessary for trail excavation.
Helen McCabe State Park Recreation Improvements
Kittitas Environmental Education Network
$5,000
The Kittitas Environmental Education Network cultivates an active understanding of the impacts of climate change on the endangered shrub-steppe and fosters commitment to environmental stewardship through culturally relevant nature-based education. This grant will fund staff time for the implementation of $500,000 of state-funded infrastructural improvements to Helen McCabe State Park, including new fencing, sanitation facilities, a permanent pond dock, and developed campsites.
Shoestring Trail Reroute - Cultural Resources Survey
Northwest Motorcycle Association
$5,000
The Northwest Motorcycle Association preserves and expands off-highway recreation in Washington State by informing, educating, and organizing motorcyclists. They partnered with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to rehabilitate two miles of the Shoestring Trail, which will to improve water quality and riparian habitat for fish and wildlife along South Fork Manastash Creek. This grant will fund a cultural resources assessment that must be completed before the trailwork and restoration efforts can begin.
Mobile Explorer Partner Teachers
Washington Outdoor School
$4,800
The Washington Outdoor School cultivates a child's sense of wonder and fosters a sense of stewardship through immersion in the natural world. In addition to their own programs, the WOS partners with classroom teachers to take learning outside for meaningful, guided and student-led experiences in the natural world during the regular school day. This grant will help fund staff time, allowing the Mobile Explorer Partner Program to operate within three K-12 schools across Kittitas County.
*These five projects total $21,800. The additional $1,800 was provided through private donations, allowing us to include projects that otherwise would not have been funded.
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