Railroad’s brush-clearing takes out popular trail

PESHASTIN, Wash. – Residents of this small central Washington town were bemoaning the loss of wildlife habitat and a popular trail along the Wenatchee River after a bulldozer cleared a wide swath of land along the railroad tracks.

BNSF Railway Co. ordered the roughly 15 mile-long area cleared of brush for fire prevention.

The wooded area is a home for migratory birds that return each spring to nest and is a popular place for hikers, birdwatchers and fishermen, said Devera Sharp, a neighbor trying to limit the amount of land cleared.

“There’s an amazing number of birds just arriving – to devastated habitat. It looks like a landing strip. It’s depressing,” Sharp said.

Gus Melonas, spokesman for BNSF in Seattle, said the railroad is clearing the brush on its property on either side of the tracks between Winton and Wenatchee as it does regularly to reduce fire danger from sparks created by trains.

“The railroad is concerned about wildlife, but there’s always fire danger along the railroad. Our greatest concern is about safety,” Melonas said Wednesday.

Decisions regarding how wide a strip is cleared are up to the company’s regional engineering staff, he said.

State Fish and Wildlife agents visited the site this week to survey the damage, said Sgt. Doug Ward, field officer for the Wenatchee regional office. Ward said his inspection showed that the work was being done on BNSF property and that the department would likely have no jurisdiction.

The railroad has a congressional exemption and does not have to follow state laws concerning wildlife and shoreline activities, he said.