Council Approves Conservation/Parks Projects
The County Council voted on May 31st to provide over $3.1 million in Conservation Futures funds to assist with the purchase of more than 3,000 acres of land throughout Snohomish County for a variety of open space and recreational uses.
The Conservation Futures program is funded by dedicated property taxes. The fund's purpose is "to acquire interests or rights in real property for the preservation of open space land, farm and agricultural land and timber land."
The Snohomish County Parks and Recreation Department receives applications from interested parties, who present their applications to the Conservation Futures Advisory Board. The Board consists of the County Executive (or designee); two members of the County Council (Councilmembers Dave Somers and Stephanie Wright); one elected official representing cities with a population of 10,000 or greater; one elected official representing cites with a population less than 10,000; and two members representing citizens of Snohomish County. Each Board member serves a 4-year term.
"The Conservation Futures program is very important in providing the parks and open space that are necessary to accommodate the growth Snohomish has experienced in the last few decades," said Councilmember Dave Gossett. "Thousands of acres of property have been preserved and made available for public use through Conservation Futures."
The Snohomish County Conservation Futures Board met on May 9, 2011, to finalize their recommendations to the County Council. Recommendations from the board were forwarded to the County Council for final action.
"There was a great list of projects this year," said Gossett. "Unfortunately it wasn't possible to fully fund them all."
The total of over $3.1 million was available from 2011 revenues, previous fund balance, and reallocations from past year projects which did not need all the funds. The projects funded are shown below:
· Lake Roesiger/Snohomish County project $1,383,400
· Lake Gardner Property/City of Granite Falls project $ 25,000
· Harborview Park Property/City of Everett project $ 400,000
· Quinn's Crossing/Snohomish County project $ 225,000
· Japanese Gulch/City of Mukilteo project $ 500,000
· Boy Scout Property/City of Bothell project $ 200,000
Following the Council's approval the applicants will negotiate purchase and sale agreements with the landowners of the individual properties. In a number of cases additional funding will need to be obtained from other grants or agencies.
In a letter sent to Conservation Futures Advisory Board members Gossett expressed his support for the proposal to purchase the property known as the Boy Scout Property.
"Purchasing the Boy Scout property is a great opportunity to preserve 31 acres of habitat and forest within the Bothell city limits," said Gossett. "Working together with King County and the City of Bothell we ultimately hope to preserve 64 acres. There are very few areas like this remaining in urban Snohomish County."
Purchase of this property will complement the County's ongoing efforts to preserve natural resources that make up the region's watershed.
"The local community has really led the way on the Boy Scout project," said Gossett. "I want to thank the Friends of North Creek Forest for their hard work and dedication."
