Create community
Its our Nature to Explore Partnerships
Friends of the COlumbia GOrgeFriends has been an invaluable resource throughout this entire waterfront project. They were our first partner after the port purchased the 13.25 acres of waterfront property in late 2012. Friends’ mission is to protect the scenic, natural, cultural, and recreational resources of the Columbia River Gorge. With Washougal being the entrance to this scenic area, it is not a surprise that they were very interested in assisting the port with our waterfront trail and park project. They have been an educator to us regarding trail implementation and the positive economic development impacts that trails have on a community, grant funding, and connecting the port with other trail related agencies such as the National Park Service and Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition. They have been a champion of our work by providing support letters to granting agencies and enlightening other agencies of the waterfront project. Friends and the Port is a story of non-profit and government agencies working together in a positive and productive fashion to better a community!
LOWER COLUMBIA ESTUARY PARTNERSHIP 
LCREP is a non-profit organization supported by federal, state and private groups working to protect and restore the Lower Columbia River from the Bonneville Dam to the Pacific Ocean. Since our waterfront project is focused on non-motorized water experiences, LCREP has been a great resource for providing information on the lower Columbia River water trail. They have provided the port with water trail flags for those experiencing the water trail to know of stops along the way where they can dock to eat, sleep and enjoy the local area. Washougal is the first stop along the water trail that provides food and lodging which is advertised on LCREP’s water trail interactive map. LCREP also has an amazing outdoor education program that local schools can participate in field trips for their students to experience the outdoors. The port will be coordinating efforts with LCREP to provide these outdoor education field trips at the waterfront trail and park once the waterfront project is complete. |
Washington wildlife and recreation coalition
Again the port was introduced to the amazing work performed by WWRC through Friends. This coalition is a non-profit group that serves as the watchdog and advocate for the WWRP grant program. They also work to protect the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) which is a federal grant program designed to protect our nation’s lands and waters. The port was invited by WWRC in April 2014 to travel to Washington DC to discuss with Washington State Legislators and Senators about the importance of the LWCF program and to show them our waterfront project and what those grant funds would accomplish in protecting the last available Columbia River waterfront property in Washougal for community recreational access. We were also invited in September 2014 to be speakers of their Annual Breakfast in Seattle to highlight our waterfront project along with Friends’ Towns to Trails project. It was a great opportunity to enlighten statewide lawmakers, business leaders, conservationists, and outdoor enthusiasts what is happening on the south end of the state.
Our biggest takeaway from WWRC is their grant program. Without their work that began in 1989, we would not have a grant program for protecting our outdoors. In 2015 the coalition persuaded the legislature to invest $55 million for WWRP projects. The port is the recipient of two of those grants through this program. One through WWRP’s Water Access grant in the amount of $700,000 and one through WWRP’s Trail grant in the amount of $500,000. The port would have had to fund this project in two or three phases had it not been for the grant funding resource of WWRP. With the $1.2M in grant awards through WWRP the park and trail project will be accomplished in one phase! National Park ServiceThe port was introduced to the work of the National Park Service through Friends of the Columbia Gorge. The port applied and was awarded the National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program grant in 2013. This program is the community assistance arm of the National Park Service. The port was partnered with one of their conservation and recreation planning professionals, Dan Miller, to provide public engagement and collaboration assistance as a Lead Facilitator for the five, citizen-based trail and park committee groups during 2014-15. Dan was instrumental in coordinating the desires and needs of the community on what they wanted to see from the park and trail project and delivering to the port strategies to accomplish those desires and needs.
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WASHINGTON STATE RECREATION AND CONSERVATION OFFICE RCO is a state agency that manages grant programs to create outdoor recreation opportunities, protect the best of the state’s wildlife habitat and farmland, and help return salmon from near extinction. The port applied for four grants through their grant program. Two were through Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, one with Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account, and one with Land and Water Conservation Fund. The port was successful in acquiring funding from three of the four grants, totaling $1.7M towards the waterfront park and trail project. RCO’s grant management help was significant in our success. They have a very thorough grant process that expects agencies to be project ready in order to even be considered for funding. Their process truly assisted the port in making sure it was headed in the right direction with its park and trail design and allowed for us to truly understand every facet of the project. From project design to public need and community outreach, to accurate budget line items, and sustainability and environmental stewardship, RCO staff was available through site field trips to the technical review process in assisting us with any questions we had. Our grant manager, Laura Moxham, wanted to see our project be a success, and so she provided her experience and time to giving us good feedback on our grant applications. Their grant program is an excellent example of a state agency that doesn’t just hand out grant money to anyone; they are good stewards of tax payer's money and do a very thorough job of making sure they provide a fair and impartial grant process that selects the best and most important projects. Upon completion of the project, the port will be presented with the Bravo Award by RCO’s director for being the top scoring project in the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program grant competition! |
Visit their Pages
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WA State Recreation & Conservation Office
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Columbia Estuary Partership
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National Park Service
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WA Wildlife & Recreation Coalition
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