This may feel like a loss, but please hear us out. The map above (rough drawing) represents the lands we are losing and re-routed in red including parts of Upchuck, Summer Daze, and upper/mid Stahlingrab.
We aren’t going to blow smoke; some things as you know it are going to change in the next few months to years. The reality of Beacon Hill is that a majority of it is made up of privately owned land and it has been for some time. It is a quasi-miracle that we have had as little impact as we have out at Beacon, a large part of that has been due to development obstacles (UGA, Water, Infrastructure). Over the past few decades, members and various organizations have been trying to preserve our recreational treasure in the middle of town with little to no avail. Fat Tire Trail Riders (FTTRC) were at the forefront of that movement back in 2009. FTTRC really set the stage for saving Beacon Hill, unfortunately, many of them got burnt out or discouraged spending hundreds of hours pushing for change and receiving little to no reward for trying to help make Beacon public. Check out their concept plan for Beacon Hill, this plan was hundreds of hours of work!
A curse turned blessing; yes, our hearts sank when we heard that housing was encroaching the top of the Sekani downhill. Will it even be worth racing at Beacon again?! Not a bad question. Let’s take a step back, we have been operating on borrowed time and to be honest, this is what we needed, a kick in the butt to say hey let’s not take this sitting down, we need to save our hill.
Word of losing the upper DH zone shook the community and we had a massive outcry of public emotion, to that point we received and submitted around 500 written letters in support of saving Beacon Hill. The city and county heard us.
While progress seemed slow and more negative chatter entered the conversation there was a lot going on behind the scenes. Your voice matters! We demanded countless meetings with the parks board and opened up a dialog to get the red tape cross-border smorgasbord sorted.
Did you know that part of Beacon Hill is not only owned by a multitude of private landowners (See GIS Map) but also Avista, the Spokane City, and the County? That was a big part of the problem, the city does not typically adopt land in the county where the DH course exists. While many people helped in this push, we need to specifically thank Nate Hutchens who pushed tirelessly proving the point that Beacon is an asset to the community and bringing leaders to the table. He probably has lasting mental anguish from enduring the hundreds of board meetings. In early 2020 it was determined that the city would move forward partnering with the county through the conservation futures program (Paul Knowles has been our point person and a big advocate). With years of persistence, the city, county, and the state have started to really see our potential to assist in maintaining and building trails, not just at Beacon but across Spokane.
A monumental shift, we have become more organized and continue to grow in numbers (currently over 443 paid members). This has been one of the most instrumental parts of us moving forward, working as a team, a unit of volunteers to better Spokane’s trails. Our trail minions are crushing it across trail networks and the region. We are no longer a secondary thought, but a primary when it comes to helping out on the trails.
The whole point of this message is to highlight the positive, we did it! We saved the upper downhill (GERF lives on), and if the entirety of conservation futures proposition goes through as planned we have forever saved one of the largest contiguous land acquisitions to date (see image below, download full-res here).
Generations will enjoy riding at Beacon hill thanks to our members, private donations, and community support.
We still have lots of work to do both physically and politically.
Please consider becoming a member or renewing your membership as a token of your appreciation for the recreation we sometimes take for granted.
We are working for you to make Spokane a better place to be on two wheels and beyond.
Sincerely,
Your Team at Evergreen East