Hiking, biking, riding on Rattlesnake Mountain wish lists

Ken Gano had an office on the side of Rattlesnake Mountain for 11 years when he worked at Hanford.

He’d leave his office near the old Nike missile site and head to the top of the mountain, then drop down to look for birds at a spring that can be seen from the summit.

“I basically lived on the mountain,” he said. “It’s a crime we can’t go up there at least on guided tours. It’s a very special place.”

Gano, an ecologist retired from Hanford, was among about 50 people who attended an afternoon open house held in Richland by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to hear ideas about access to Rattlesnake Mountain and surrounding land. An evening meeting also was held.

Former Rep. Doc Hastings got legislation passed shortly before he retired in December requiring the public be given access to the top of the mountain, the highest point in the Mid-Columbia. It’s on land seized by the federal government in 1943 as part of the security perimeter around the Hanford nuclear reservation. It’s seen more use by elk than humans since then.

The legislation did not say what access or how much was required, said Charlie Stenvall, Fish and Wildlife project leader for the Mid-Columbia River National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

Fish and Wildlife is starting planning with a list of restrictions from other laws and regulations. They include no camping and no travel off-road by bicycles, horses or motorized vehicles.

The road to the top is one lane in places and has a grade of up to 18 percent. On interstates, warning signs are posted for grades of 6 percent. Guardrails are missing and broken. Those hiking to the top would walk 18.6 miles round trip with a 3,000-foot elevation gain.

But given those restrictions, and the need to work with tribes that consider the mountain sacred, Fish and Wildlife said it wanted to hear the public’s ideas.

Its goal is to release a document in 2016 that considers public input and identifies options to move forward and what work those would require.

Gano is leery of turning people loose on the land, but would like to see some hiking available, he said. The route to the top is arduous enough that only serious hikers may go up, and they likely would respect the natural resources on the mountain.

“In the springtime, when the flowers bloom, it is absolutely spectacular,” he said.

Former Hanford worker Roy Barnes said he had been up the mountain as an employee several times. The attraction for the public? “A big view,” he said.

He proposes no buildings added to the mountain. No vehicles larger than a 15-passenger van could safely navigate the road to the top, the only paved road on the mountain, he said. Restrooms could be built at the bottom of the mountain and then visitors taken up for no more than two hours at a time, he suggested.

“You do not need to be up there very long to see it and take your pictures,” he said.

One woman, who declined to give her name, said as a hiker and climber she wants to make the trek to the summit unguided. If the climb proves too popular, Fish and Wildlife could consider a lottery system to limit hikers. If there were a charge to enter the lottery, the revenue could be used for upkeep.

Others at the meeting had questions about restrictions that likely would prohibit dogs on the mountain. It’s possible dogs on leash could be considered, as are allowed elsewhere on the Hanford Reach National Monument, but that would be a long process, said Dan Haas, visitors service manager for the Mid-Columbia River National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

The Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society is concerned about the public accidentally setting wildland fires. Visitors also would spread the seeds of noxious and invasive weeds that could crowd out native plants. The group also does not want animals, particularly breeding birds, disturbed.

“We understand that people want to see it,” said Dana Ward of the society. “We prefer it not be heavily used.”

That should be fine as long as they see it on tours guided by Fish and Wildlife or by guides certified by Fish and Wildlife, he said. But there should be a reasonable amount of access, perhaps 24 tours a year.

Visit Tri-Cities has different goals. It wants public access to the mountain and surrounding area to include opportunities for locals and tourists to bike and hike, said Hector Cruz, director of sports development. It also is proposing viewpoints that would show the region’s geological history.

The area does have some gravel access roads used by Fish and Wildlife and some older dirt roads, some of them no longer drivable. If they were opened for biking or horseback riding they likely would need some work.

The legislation requiring acccess came with no money for improvements or even making plans for access. Several people said they did not want money now being spent on natural resource restoration and protection for the entire Hanford Reach National Monument to be diverted for visitor management at Rattlesnake Mountain.

Comments may be submitted until until Nov. 13 to hanfordreach@fws.gov or to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Rattlesnake Access Comments, 64 Maple St., Burbank, WA 99323.