Bob Bass remembers the first time he climbed Badger Mountain.

It was 1989 or 1990, and he’d recently moved to the Tri-Cities from California.

A mountain climber, he was on the hunt for good training spots in the area, and “I was looking around saw this hill and thought, ‘Cool. I’m going to see if I can get up this thing,’” he recalled.

It was the first of many climbs for him up the 1,500-foot hill, which has become one of the Tri-Cities’ most popular recreation spots and beloved natural spaces over the last two decades.

That’s thanks in large part to Bass and other members of Friends of Badger Mountain, a nonprofit that formed to preserve and protect Badger Mountain and now is working to create a system of trails connecting four iconic Tri-City area peaks: Little Badger, Badger, Candy and Red mountains.

Bass was a founding member of the group, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

Back when Bass first started climbing Badger, it didn’t have the network of well-established trails it boasts today. Instead, the hill had “social trails,” or unofficial paths beaten by hikers over time.

But in the early 2000s, Friends of Badger Mountain began working to acquire 574 acres on Badger for preservation. The group raised money, eventually turning the funds over to Benton County to make the purchase and designate Badger Mountain as a county park.

The group has followed a similar formula to help preserve Candy Mountain to the northwest and Little Badger Mountain to the east, working with Benton County and the city of Richland, respectively. The nonprofit group also holds the title to about 80 acres on and around the peaks.

The group has taken on responsibility for building most of the trails, and for trail maintenance.

Badger and Candy each have multiple trails, and Little Badger is next. The Richland City Council recently approved a master plan, following a period of input from the public.

Bass said his group aims to establish a trail to the summit in 2023-24.

Friends of Badger Mountain also has other projects in the works for the next few seasons, including establishing a trail from the summit of Candy Mountain west down to Kennedy Road and completing a trail connection between Badger and Little Badger. In the longer-term, the group aims to extend the trail system from the top of Little Badger east to Claybell Park in Richland and extend the trail system at Candy from Kennedy Road to Red Mountain and eventually Benton City.

Friends of Badger Mountain will celebrate its 20th anniversary at its annual meeting on May 20. The event is space-limited and therefore is by invitation only.

Bass said the group is looking for volunteers to help with everything from fundraising to trail building and maintenance. Look for more information on the website, friendsofbadger.org.

For Bass, the work of Friends of Badger Mountain is vitally important – for people’s health, for the environment, for the community and for the future.

“Our mission is to give the community access to these jewels,” he said. “Not many communities have a 1,500-foot mountain in their backyard. We want to preserve our ridges and our hills. We want the public to make use of them and enjoy them. It’s a win-win for the environment and our health.”

Go to: friendsofbadger.org.