Category Overview
The State Lands Development and Renovation category provides funding to two state agencies to repair, renovate, and develop outdoor recreation facilities on existing recreation lands. As the popularity of outdoor recreation increases in our state, these grants help address overcrowding, ensure our outdoor amenities are safe for public use, improve visitor experience, and allow more people to enjoy our great outdoors.
Project Highlights
WDFW acquired section 22, including the Lily Lake Reservoir from the WA. Dept. of Natural Resources (WDNR) in 2018. The acquisition was the culmination of a years-long community based effort by a grass roots organization known as the Stemilt Partnership. Lily Lake is an irrigation reservoir on state land, but with all use rights reserved by the Stemilt Irrigation District (SID). The surrounding lands in Section 22 are owned by WDFW. Lily Lake has a long history of public use including trout fishing in the spring and camping nearby. The SID has a history of allowing public use and this project would help ensure that continued access. Unfortunately this specific area has a history of misuse, including a chronic garbage issue, 4X4 vehicle mudding, and trash/wooden pallet bonfires. The Lily Lake area has been particularly impacted by these activities for years. The SID is particularly concerned about potential vehicle damage of the lake’s earthen dam. This project is an effort to reduce the undesirable activities that occur in this area and provide a clean, safe day use area for people to recreate. Project strategies include improving the access road to the lake, creation of a graveled parking lot near the lake with adjacent day use picnic sites. A second graveled parking lot would be developed primarily for winter snowmobile use to improve the existing snowpark. Vehicle barriers (boulders) would be used to delineate the parking and picnic areas.