Washington County reviews proposed Salmonberry Trail governance, budgets and next steps

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ore. — Washington County commissioners on July 15 reviewed a proposed change to the governance of the Salmonberry Trail corridor, discussed a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) that staff plan to bring back this summer, and heard a presentation from the Salmonberry Trail Foundation on project status and community benefits.

The briefing focused on administrative arrangements for the long-planned Salmonberry Trail, which follows an 84-mile former rail corridor from Banks to Tillamook and includes about 27 miles inside Washington County. Deonmi Ballantyne, Washington County Transportation Planning Section Manager, said the current Salmonberry Trail Intergovernmental Agency (STIA) intergovernmental agreement is set to expire in September and staff are seeking direction on a proposed governance shift and the county’s role going forward.

The proposed shift would make the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) the administrative sponsor for the corridor: OPRD would assume responsibility for administering the rail-banking agreement and the corridor lease, and would convene a new sponsor committee (referred to in drafts as a Salmonberry Trail Council) that would include existing STIA members with some adjustments. Ballantyne said the Salmonberry Trail Foundation would be a member of that council and continue serving as a fiscal agent, fundraiser and volunteer coordinator on segments of the corridor.

Ballantyne said Washington County’s formal responsibilities in the draft MOU would include continuing to serve as a voting member of the new council and to carry out the county’s statutorily required land use development review function — including imposing conditions of approval that define operations and maintenance expectations and providing enforcement if a trail operator fails to meet those conditions. "Whoever ends up actually constructing and operating the trail will be responsible for doing the long term operations and maintenance," Ballantyne said; the county’s role would be to review approvals and require maintenance via conditions.

On funding, staff and partners discussed administrative cost estimates and near-term commitments. Ballantyne reported an estimate of roughly $85,000 per year for the administrative capacity OPRD would need to manage the sponsor committee and related duties, but said that is an estimate and could vary. Washington County has included a $20,000 contribution for the current fiscal year in the adopted county budget; Ballantyne said the draft MOU would not itself create a binding expectation of ongoing county funding and that future contributions would be at board discretion. Ballantyne also said the county has previously provided smaller administrative contributions (discussed in the briefing as about $3,000 historically) and has provided other funding to the Salmonberry Trail Foundation.

Commissioner Jerry Willie confirmed that the board earlier approved two budget amendments related to the trail as part of the adopted budget process: one described in the staff presentation as the $20,000 in one-time funds for the county’s portion of administrative support, and another $50,000 contribution to the Salmonberry Trail Foundation. Ballantyne said staff would provide a clearer accounting of where past and current dollars have been allocated when the board reviews the draft MOU.

Mike Cafaretta, recently appointed to the Salmonberry Trail Foundation board and previously working on the transition, and Caroline Fitchitt, executive director of the Salmonberry Trail Foundation, described the foundation’s role in on-the-ground work, volunteer coordination and fundraising. Fitchitt said segments of the corridor are expected to have different build standards: outer sections near towns are envisioned as wider paved multiuse trail, while the canyon segments likely will be narrower gravel or aggregate surfaces and narrower decking across trestles. "When you go on a trail and you're in it, it is about the memories that you're creating," Fitchitt said, framing the project’s non-economic benefits.

Fitchitt described the foundation’s recent work on the Learning Mile and Catalyst Loop near Manning and Stubbs Stewart State Park, volunteer stewardship (more than 10,000 volunteer hours logged in the foundation’s account), partnerships with local schools and tribes, and advocacy with the federal delegation for trail-directed appropriations. She noted members of the county’s delegation have submitted budget requests for Salmonberry Trail funding; she said those federal efforts will continue.

Commissioners asked for a clear draft of the MOU and a funding strategy that outlines partner commitments and possible annual contribution scenarios before the county would be asked to approve a new MOU. Ballantyne said staff intend to circulate draft MOU language as soon as possible and aim to bring an MOU to the board for review and possible action before the STIA agreement expires in September; the board discussed scheduling the item for a full-board meeting in August.

Action at the meeting: the board voted to move into executive session under ORS 192.660(2)(f) and (h) for exempt records and potential litigation. The motion carried unanimously 4–0.

Next steps: staff will finalize and distribute a draft MOU and an explanation of current funding commitments and are preparing a funding strategy for the new sponsor committee; commissioners said they expect to review the draft in advance of any formal action and indicated support for further consideration so long as the MOU clearly states Washington County’s role and does not create an open-ended county funding obligation.

(Reporting note: quotations and attributions come from the July 15, 2025 Washington County Board of Commissioners work session.)