Some worry Zintel Canyon isn't family-friendly. This teacher wants to fix that

Each day, people make their way down the roughly milelong trail that runs through Zintel Canyon in Kennewick.

Along with the quail, snakes and wild blackberries, less desirable things hide in the dense woods — graffiti-covered trees, discarded clothing and litter.

Jeff Wiens, a father of three and Kennewick teacher, sees the potential for the canyon, and the Spirit of America Trail through it, to become south Kennewick’s version of the hiking trails on Badger and Candy mountains.

But to create that effort — one with private individuals helping to maintain the area and supporting improvements — he needs people.

His first step is a 6 p.m. Tuesday meeting near the park, at the intersection of 7th Avenue and Vancouver Street.

A change downward, a push back

The Park Middle School teacher started bringing his young children to ride their bikes along the Spirit of America Trail in June.

Wiens noticed it changed during the 10 years since he last went down there.

“When I went down there with the kids ... it had lost a bit of the family atmosphere,” he said. “There is a bit of a public perception that it’s not a great place to bring your family.”

He wanted to bring together the people who use the 63-acre recreation area, so he reached out to Kennewick’s Crime Prevention Specialist Mike Blatman for help organizing a community watch.

They sent about 100 letters to people living along the canyon and posted on the police department’s Facebook page.

Wiens has taken to the park to talk to people himself.

“Jeff has taken the lead on this,” Blatman said. “He wanted to make sure this is a family friendly place.”

The fact that much of the canyon isn’t easily seen from outside can encourage people to leave graffiti and the homeless to camp there, Blatman said.

More eyes watching for things that seem out of place, and reporting them, will discourage those things, he said.

Along with graffiti, the canyon closed because of fires twice during the past year.

Need for a partnership

While the canyon is owned and maintained by the city, it doesn’t get the same amount of attention as Columbia Park or the Southridge Sports Complex, said Evelyn Lusignan, the city’s public relations and government affairs director.

Between regular full-time and seasonal employees, the parks and maintenance department has 35 employees maintaining 800 acres of parks and 406,000 square feet of city buildings.

Those same employees also prepare more than 130 special events in the parks each year.

In the canyon, the city relies on people to report when they see graffiti, downed trees or other problems, Lusignan said.

Other parks have community groups to clean and take care of them, she added — something Zintel doesn’t have.

“It’s really crucial for us to have those community partnerships,” she said. “There is no way we could do everything.”

Wiens’ long-term vision is to form a group willing to improve the trails, including the Spirit of America Trail.

He pointed to signs that other people invested time there, including concrete retaining walls.

He wants to make sure people know about the resource they have in their backyard. No one is likely to invest more money or time unless people show they’re willing to put in the hours, he said.

“As long was we are going down there as a community, there are only positives that can come out of that,” he said.

This story was originally published July 15, 2018 at 3:29 PM.