Issaquah Alps Trail Running Club Celebrates ‘Save Coal Creek’ Campaign Success
Written for the Alpiner by Sijie Cheng
"I am a trail runner and I am looking for trail recommendations to train for a race in winter."
"I am a hiker and would like to go for after-work hikes on weekdays to train for my goal of summiting Mt Rainier this summer.'
"I am a mountain biker and looking for flowy trails that I can take my beginner friends on."
"I am a botanist and would like to take pictures of the wildflowers in spring."
If you browse any Seattle based outdoor forums/Facebook groups, be it trail running, hiking, mountain biking, or nature-based photography and ask any of the above questions, one of the recommendations is almost guaranteed to be a trail from the Issaquah Alps. The “Issaquah Alps” is a nickname coined by Harvey Manning, the founder of Issaquah Alps Trails Club (IATC) to describe the foothills surrounding Issaquah. Much of the open space and trails in the Issaquah Alps are the fruits of labor from IATC's conservation and advocacy efforts over the last 4+ decades.
Salmon, across the street from its preserved land, with the campaign sign.
I have gotten to explore many trails of Issaquah Alps as a trail runner since joining the Issaquah Alps Trail Running Club (IATRC). While IATRC has no official affiliation with IATC, the run club is led by Kelly Jiang, IATC’s board Vice President. The group meets every Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. and rotates through the three signature mountains of the Issy Alps - Cougar, Squak, and Tiger. We start each run with an icebreaker question, such as “who is your running role model?”, “what are you most looking forward to this winter?”. One of the ice breaker questions was “What is your favorite Issaquah Alps trail?”. We went around in a group of 25+ runners and I only heard of a few trail repeats, which shows the vast coverage of the Issy Alps.
Running club all smiles with the salmon in front of coal creek falls, fed by coal creek
Kelly, as a board member of IATC, does a great job of informing and educating us about conservation efforts led by IATC. She first told us about the ‘Save Coal Creek’ campaign in February, when she gathered a group of runners to participate in a public rally at the Newcastle Beach Park in support of Save Coal Creek. The runners even ran in salmon costume!
The goal of the Save Coal Creek campaign is to preserve a 12-acre parcel of land on Lakemont Boulevard directly across from Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, initially planned for a development of 35 single-family homes. This is to protect a critical wildlife corridor between Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park and Bellevue’s Coal Creek Natural Area, to maintain a rich history of mining in coal creek, and to improve parking and pedestrian access in the area. The Save Coal Creek campaign was started by a group of concerned citizens in 2020, who began collecting petition signatures to preserve this piece of land as a public park, rather than see it turned into a car-centric subdivision. IATC advocates have supported this campaign from the beginning by sharing their expertise and experience from past campaigns.
In October 2021, IATC established a dedicated fund to support costs related to Save Coal Creek, particularly research, attorney fees, and technical fees incurred to advocate for this campaign. Thanks to the campaign spearheaded by the Save Coal Creek committee, along with countless other volunteers and supporters from IATC, in July, King County awarded a $9.25 million grant to the City of Bellevue to purchase this parcel of land from the developer to add to the Coal Creek Natural Area. Although there is still work to be done before the purchase is finalized, this is a huge win for public lands, open space, and wildlife connectivity! When Kelly shared the great news on the grant, we decided to celebrate this win by combining a trail run with a post-run trailhead potluck, both Coal Creek themed!
Kelly talking about Save Coal Creek with the running club, featuring a reappearance from the salmon!
On celebration day, before the run, Kelly shared with us the history and success of the campaign. She also encouraged everyone to donate, as IATC still needs about $37K to cover all of the costs associated with Save Coal Creek. Then we were off to our run, passing the 12-acre land that will be preserved and the Coal Creek Falls!
Here are pictures to highlight the run and post-run celebration. (credit: Kyle McCrohan)
Coal Creek themed cake!
Even some fish-themed treats!
The Save Coal Creek campaign has been years in the making, and we hope the recent success leads to conservation of this land for many generations. Please consider making a donation to Issaquah Alps Trails Club, which fiscally sponsors Save Coal Creek.
Here are three ways you can donate:
Make a direct donation through issaquahalps.org
Venmo @issyalps
If your employer matches donations, you can donate through your employer’s matching portal
