Yakima River Access Plan - Laserfiche WebLink

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12 and perch in the trees, and to small mammals like beaver and river otter that rely upon an interface between the undisturbed terrestrial and aquatic areas. Birding habitats - Audubon of Washington maintains a series of birding trails for different regions of the state including the “Sun & Sage Loop” that highlights portions of Kittitas County. Audubon lists the following sites on the Kittitas County portion of the birding trail that represent diverse birding opportunities: § City of Ellensburg Irene Rinehart Riverfront Park - 117 acres of grass, floodplain, riparian woods along the Yakima River. The 1- mile trail loop through the park attracts lots of birds, particularly in the spring including American Goldfinches, Golden and Ruby- crowned Kinglets, Western Tanagers, Tree, Violet-green, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and occasional Wood Ducks. Summers feature Ospreys, Yellow Warblers, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and House Wrens. On winter ponds host Ring-necked Ducks, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, Canada Geese, Pied- billed Grebes; and American Dippers on the river. Year-round inhabitants include Black-capped Chickadees, Belted Kingfishers, Northern Flickers, and Downy Woodpeckers. § BLM’s Ringer Loop Nature Trail - 200 acres of meadows, cottonwood groves, and ponderosa pines including WDFW’s restoration of 176 acres along the Yakima River at the entry into the Lower Canyon. The braided 0.5-mile nature trail to the shoreline in the spring hosts Tree, Violet-green, Bank, and Cliff Swallows, Blue- winged Teal, Wood Ducks, Western Sandpipers, Western Wood- Pewees, Wilson’s Snipes, and Ospreys and Red-tailed Hawks in the summer. American Dippers and Common Mergansers float by on swift Yakima River in the fall and winter. § BLM’s Umtanum Creek Recreation Area – over the river on the suspension bridge and up the 8-mile trail into the canyon supports talus slopes, meadow, creek, and riparian shrubs. In the spring and summer cottonwood trees hosts Bullock’s Orioles and Red-naped Sapsuckers, blue elderberry bushes hosts Spotted Towhees, bare branches host Lazuli Buntings and Yellow-breasted Chats. Eastern Kingbirds visit the north river shore along with Golden Eagles, Prairie Falcons, Red-tailed Hawks, and Violet-green and Tree Swallows. See Bald Eagles in winter. Year round inhabitants include Chukars, California Quails, Northern Flickers, Mourning Doves, Rock and Canyon Wrens. Bighorn sheep and mule deer are frequent visitors. Historical development Indian settlements The first inhabitants of the Kittitas Valley were the Psch-wan-wap- pams (stony ground people) also known as the Kittitas band of the Yakama or Upper Yakama. Although the Kittitas were distinct from the Yakama, settlers and the federal government grouped the Kittitas with the larger Yakama Tribe for treaty purposes. Interpretations of the meaning of the word Kittitas vary from shale rock, white chalk, or white clay probably referring to the region’s soil composition. Another interpretation is that the bread made from the root kous was called kit-tit that grew in the Kittitas Valley. “Tash” is generally accepted to mean “place of existence.” The Kittitas Valley was one of the few places in Washington where both camas (sweet onion) and kous (a root used to make a bread) grew. These were staples that could be dried, made into cakes, and saved for winter consumption. Yakama, Cayous, Nez Perce, and other tribes gathered in the valley to harvest these foods, fish, hold council talks, settle disputes, socialize, trade goods, race their horses, and play games. Fur trader Alexander Ross entered the Kittitas Valley in 1814 to trade for horses and stumbled upon an enormous tribal gathering that he described in Fur Traders of the Far West: “This mammoth camp could not have contained less than 3,000 men, exclusive of women and children, and treble that number of horses. It was a grand and imposing sight in the wilderness, covering more than 6 miles in every direction. Councils, root gathering, hunting, horse-racing, foot-racing, gambling, singing, dancing, drumming, yelling, and a thousand other things which I cannot mention, were going on around us”.