Description ● Partners ● Location ● Photos

For a detailed map, or for directions, click here .

What can you do to help secure the last remaining stand for the Black-tailed jackrabbit in the Tri-Cites? What can you do to stop the bulldozer blades and land movers from ripping up thousands of years of beautifully crafted natural habitat and a wildlife sanctuary?

What will you do?

I have asked you to stand by as we worked out the details of the Amon Basin Community Project (ABCP) final phase. You have been standing by patiently, waiting for the call to action. That moment has arrived. We have secured a buy-sell agreement, we have agreed to a price, we have the Trust for Public Land as our agent, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as our sponsor and we have actively been searching out funding in the community and around the state. Now, it is your turn.

Donate; the first phase of the ABCP was short $40,000 to close, it was the community donation fund of $45,000 that put us over the top. You can donate online at the Tapteal web site, www.tapteal.org or send a check to us at PO Box 3007, Richland, WA 99354. Please enter Amon Basin in the memo line so we can get the donation into our separate Amon Basin account at the Bank of the West. Any donation over $100 will be refunded upon request if the project does not close. The donation is tax deductible.

Letters; there are two focus areas for a letter writing campaign: one is the Richland City Council and the other is Letters to the Editor in the Tri-City Herald. We have been asking the city for a letter of support for the project. Their decision on that letter has been delayed until sometime in June. If you choose to write a letter to council I am encouraging you to be positive using the theme of "what Amon Basin means to me and what you intend to do for Amon Basin." What will you volunteer to do, what skills can you bring to enhance the experience at the site. You may find other talking points on our web page relating to Amon Basin Central Park, but we want to impress council with the fact that Amon Basin is a community treasure and each of you has a special story to tell. The Herald letters should express the same personal approach. Again, please be positive.

City council letters can be submitted via email to:

Richland City Council

or hard copy to:

Richland City Council
PO Box 190
505 Swift Boulevard
Richland, WA 99352

Tri City Herald Letters to the Editor can be submitted at: Letters to the Editor or hard copy to:Letters to the Editor, Tri-City Herald, 333 W. Canal Dr., Kennewick, WA, 99336. Letters will not be published if they lack a writer's home address and daytime phone number where writers can be reached for verification.Thank you in advance for caring enough to step up to the plate at this crucial time.

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438 living units, two roads and two bridges are planned for the only remaining critical habitat buffer surviving in Amon Basin. Without this 125 acre buffer for Amon Creek Natural Preserve the last significant stand for the Black-tailed jackrabbit in the Tri-Cities will be destroyed. The most unique natural area in our urban area will be severely impacted forever.

Your generosity completed the first two Amon Basin Community Projects. You set aside the West Fork of Amon Creek as a Natural Preserve, establishing a natural wildlife corridor sharing trails and open space with beaver, river otter, 100 bird species, jackrabbits, badger and coyotes. This will be our last chance to ensure this legacy survives. Amon Basin Central Park and Preserve is at great risk: please come to its rescue!

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We urgently need photos to document plants, people walking, and wildlife on the Amon shrub steppe property detailed in the Photos area below. No photos of Amon Creek at this time, please. The next month is crucial because of the blooms and migratory wildlife present. High resolution preferred. Send via jpeg format to Scott Woodward.
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Thanks to our partners:

The Trust for Public Lands

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
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Where is Amon Basin? The threatened Amon Basin open space borders the Amon Creek Natural Preserve, in S. Richland. Containing wetlands and shrub steppe, Amon Creek extends north from the intersection of Leslie & Clearwater Roads to Columbia Park Trail and into the Yakima River.
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The development clock is ticking on Amon Basin. Join with hundreds of citizens to purchase the last remaining open space buffering Amon Creek. Help us create a legacy–Amon Basin Central Park that will increase quality of life, property values, and recreational opportunities.
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Thanks to Cynthia Shaw for her rendering of the proposed Springwater Development at Amon Basin. See the before and after concept below or here.

Amon Basin overview map showing all three phases of the project.

Before and after view looking east from the end of Center Drive.


Before and after view looking north from the Leslie Road / Rachel Road intersection.


Proposed Springwater Site Plan looking north.
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