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Jacksonville Woodlands earns grant By Melissa Martin JACKSONVILLE � Larry Smith was substituting in the classroom that had been his for 33 years when he heard the news: The Cheney Foundation had given the Jacksonville Woodlands Association $24,000 to pay off the mortgage on the Rich Gulch property. "Everything came full circle,�� said the retired school teacher and president of the Jacksonville Woodlands Association. Smith was able to tell the class the success story about protecting Rich Gulch standing in the classroom where the project was launched. The Cheney money will allow the association to make its final payment on the next-to-last piece of land it needs to complete the 300-acre Jacksonville Woodlands. And city officials will go to Salem later this week seeking a grant to purchase the last piece needed for the 6.5-mile trail system. The Woodlands Association began purchasing the $88,000 Rich Gulch property four years ago with a down payment of $12,500 � the cash prize that Smith�s sixth-grade students won from Sea World for their part in helping preserve the forested hills around this National Historic Landmark town. Grants from the Collins Foundation, SOREDI, Carpenter Foundation, city of Jacksonville, Woodlands Association members and others helped reduce the debt. Then in April, Smith applied for the Cheney Foundation grant. The Rich Gulch property includes a two-mile hiking trail that begins at West Fir Street and winds by a canyon carved by giant water cannons, rock tailings, a hand-dug ditch and other relics from the days of mining in the 1890s and early 1900s. Meanwhile, city administrator Paul Wyntergreen will travel to Salem this week to ask the Oregon state parks commission for $250,000 to purchase the last piece of property needed to complete the 6.5-mile trail system. Jacksonville is one of 50 agencies asking for lottery dollars earmarked for parks projects, Smith said. Matching funds to purchase the property known as The Knoll will include $40,000 from the city of Jacksonville, $97,000 from the Bureau of Land Management and $88,500 from the Jacksonville Woodlands Association. The property is owned by Medford attorney Mark Burkhalter, who already allowed 4.6 acres to be included in the Rich Gulch national historic designation area. The Jacksonville Woodlands Association hiking trails are free, open to the public and located within five minutes of downtown Jacksonville. Maps are available for loan or a small fee at the Sarah Zigler trailhead near the Britt Gardens. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA