Annual Palisades Meeting & Party

The Annual Palisades meeting and Christmas Potluck brought neighbors together to enjoy the delicious potluck dishes amid the Valsvig's Christmas decorations wonderland. Tucked away from the main road, it's an amazing and beautiful sight to drive down the private drive and behold their Christmas light show. Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to decorate for the holidays!

And thanks to all who attended and joined our group--in support of our efforts to preserve Palisades!!! If you couldn't make it during this busy season, please still remember us when things slow down. There will be an upcoming neighborhood Chili Contest--a clean up day--some thinning projects (see below)--and a fall ride, walk and bike!

Thanks to Al Hawson, forestery for the Spokane County Conservation District who got up and held everyone's attention with his CD presentation of the Valleyview fire this summer. He's got a lifetime of experience and knowledge to add to our efforts, and he made it very clear that the Conservation District is there to serve US!! (If you'd like a fire assessment, they will come to your house and do one for FREE!)

His talk clearly demonstrated the necessity of developing a safe haven around your home and neighborhood. He also presented copies of the Palisades Park Forestry plan he has developed over this last summer. Wonderful resource to draw from!

He plainly stated that because of the present environment of the forests in the park, it is not "if" a fire might occur, but "when" it will.

Palisades plans to present the plan to the Park Board in the near future and begin to plan forestry thinning projects with the SCCD for this coming year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all--and again, please remember Palisades in the upcoming year--let's remember it's up to us to preserve these natural treasures in our local community so they will be safe and clean for all of us, our children and our grandchildren!!

Christmas Party for Palisades

PLEASE JOIN YOUR NEIGHBORS AT THE PALISADES ANNUAL MEETING & CHRISTMAS POTLUCK

SUNDAY DECEMBER 14TH
AT THE HOME OF
PAUL AND ROBIN VALSVIG
5 PM
510 N. GROVE RD

BRING A DISH FOR THE POTLUCK!

Coffee, utensils and plates provided. Everyone Welcome!
Feel free to bring your kids.
For information visit our website: http://www.palisadesnw.com
Or call 624-8384
Our guest is Al Hawson, forester with the Spokane County Conservation District. Al will give us an update of his inventory of the forests of Palisades, some of the problem areas, and suggestions on solutions.

Riverside State Park Closures: Letter From Rene Wiley

Hello, everyone, Because of the economic challenges facing our state and nation, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will need to cut fuel costs and reduce its general expenditures by several million dollars statewide by June 30, 2009.

To do our part, Riverside State Park will be changing operating hours in two areas of the park during the winter. The ORV and equestrian areas of the park will be open weekends only through November and then will close for the winter starting December 1.

We are planning to reopen both areas in March or April; however, this will depend on weather and road conditions. We also will be performing limited snow plowing of park roads and trailheads during the winter. We will do our best to keep the Bowl and Pitcher day-user area and the Highway 291 boat launch site clear of snow.

We put a lot of thought into how we can make these required budget cuts with the least amount of inconvenience to our visitors. We decided the best thing to do was to reduce operating hours during the off-season months and keep the hours of operation the same for the peak season (May to September).

We considered winter attendance figures and use patterns as well as the cost of fuel to maintain these areas. We do not anticipate further service reductions at this time, but we will keep you posted. I appreciate your support of State Parks through these tough economic times.

Please feel free to give me a call with questions or suggestions. Rene’ Wiley Riverside State Park Area Manager 9711 W. Charles Road Nine Mile Falls, WA. 99026 (509) 465-5064

Welcome to Palisades

Welcome to Palisades!

Our primary goal is stewardship of the entire Rimrock/Palisades/Indian Canyon area, including all public lands within the approximate boundaries of Sunset Hwy on the South, Riverside State Park on the North and East, and Airway Heights on the West.

This includes trail planning and maintenance, park advocacy with regard to City Parks issues, involvement with the various agencies assisting in fire management, periodic cleanup activities, and a helpful, watchdog approach to all park users -- i.e. friendly toward non-trashers, non-poachers, non-dealers.

We also want to spread the teachings of the "Leave No Trace" Outdoor Ethics program, both within our own area and by reaching out to other user groups to help work toward having clean, sustainable public lands everywhere. We hope you'll join us.

If you live in this area, or are intersted in conservation of our park, please follow our blog and check in periodically to see what's happening in the club.

We'll be having a Christmas Party in December, so stay tuned for information.