Wesson says CAP Corridor trail makes sense

As the Colfax Albion Pullman corridor continues to gather weeds and weather over time, Rich Wesson can’t stand by and watch it fade into Palouse history.

Wesson, a Whitman County resident, has been working to get a trail established on the Colfax Albion Pullman, or CAP, corridor since 2015.

But his passion for trails and preserving rails, Wesson said, began long before Washington state deemed the corridor nonessential.

The CAP has served Whitman County for more than a century, transporting goods and passengers in and out of the region. It spans 19 miles, connecting to other lines in Washington and Idaho.

Being a state asset, the property on which the corridor sits is technically owned by Washington, Wesson said. The line itself has been owned and managed by the Washington state Department of Transportation since 2005.

The state had been leasing the corridor to short-line rail operators since operations ceased in the late 1900s. But in 2015, it decided the corridor was not necessary and suspended care to the rails.

Other than occasionally spraying for weeds, Wesson said, the rails aren’t maintained.

Rather than watch the corridor deteriorate, Wesson would like the line to be railbanked.

Railbanking is the process of turning vacant corridors into trails and recreational spaces. The line is taken care of while being unused, and saved for when the need comes back.

Most of the region’s local government is supportive of railbanking, Wesson said, except for the Port of Whitman County, which is the only agency that has stated its opposition to the process.

But it’s ultimately not up to the city to railbank a corridor, Wesson said. The state Legislature decides what to do with lines.

Whitman County’s representatives, Rep. Joe Schmick and Rep. Mary Dye, don’t have a great track record with railbanking, Wesson said.

In 2015, the two tried to give away the John Wayne Trail State Park, a 130-mile area near Ellensburg, Wesson said. The provision was placed in the capital budget, which was passed.

There was an error in the document, Wesson said. Instead of stating that it be given away from the Columbia River to Malden, it read that it would be given away from the Columbia River to the Columbia River.

“This typo was the only thing that saved John Wayne,” Wesson said. “We came so close to losing 130 miles of state park.”

Wesson submitted a request for a feasibility study to be conducted on the CAP corridor this year, but the appeal was denied by the Legislature. The study would have looked into the best options moving forward with the line.

He plans to request a fact-finding committee during its next session, which would research the effects of railbanking.

“Our representatives think that no one is going to use the trails except grasshoppers,” Wesson said. “But they’re wrong.”

Adding a trail to the CAP corridor would add to around 40 miles of existing pathways in Whitman and Latah counties, creating almost 60 miles of continuous trails in the region, Wesson said. It would be connected to the Pullman Loop Trail, the Bill Chipman Trail between Pullman and Moscow, the Paradise Path in Moscow, the Latah Trail from Moscow to Troy, and smaller extensions into Bear Creek Canyon toward Kendrick.

The project would bring economic vitality to the region, Wesson said, as more people will come to hike trails if they are longer. He added 50 is the magic number. Any trail over 50 miles will attract far more hikers and bikers than shorter routes.

It would also improve quality of life, Wesson added, as people would be able to travel from Colfax to Pullman safely on foot.

“Having a car, it’s easy to travel to rural towns across Whitman,” Wesson said. “But if you don’t have a car and you want to get out and look around the Palouse, you’re pretty confined.”

The only way to travel on foot from Pullman to Colfax is by walking on busy roads, highways and gravel roads, Wesson said.

“We are so lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful scenery,” Wesson said. “It would give the opportunity to appreciate the Palouse’s gorgeous landscape.”

Wesson said while he is all for railbanking, some community members are against the process.

The biggest issue, he said, is privacy. Some property owners don’t want a trail next to their homes as people may walk by more frequently.

If the CAP corridor doesn’t get railbanked, Wesson said it will likely be privatized by being given to property owners next to the line, or continue to lie dormant under the state’s ownership.

Wesson said his plan is to continue educating the community about railbanking and the corridor.

“What I need is the people’s support, especially around election season,” Wesson said. “We won’t be able to get anything done if we don’t work together.”