Partnership developing to preserve habitat, working forest in Raging River headwaters

A highly prized piece of working forest at the headwaters of the Raging River could be protected forever from development thanks to the leadership of the King County Conservation Futures Citizen Advisory Committee.
 
The committee has recommended that King County reprioritize funding for conservation projects already approved in order to join with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in its proposed purchase of land that includes significant chinook salmon habitat as well as a critical piece of open space for recreation and conservation.

King County Executive Ron Sims today transmitted legislation to the County Council that would authorize the use of $3.7 million to support a DNR conservation effort to acquire and protect an estimated 4,000 acres of a 7,000 acre purchase in the upper Raging River watershed, east of State Route 18 near the highway’s junction with Interstate 90 in unincorporated King County.

“In the face of future growth, it is important that we do whatever we can today to ensure that we don’t lose precious resources tomorrow,” said Sims.  “This is such an important piece of property to our quality of life and our environment.

“We will preserve resource jobs, open space, fish and wildlife habitat, and view corridors and connect other open space already protected by public ownership,” Sims said.

The property drains into the Raging River and includes more than four miles of high quality spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead – including nearly one-fifth of the vast Snoqualmie River Basin’s wild chinook population.

It is also the single-largest unprotected block of land remaining in King County’s portion of the Mountains to Sound Greenway, which stretches for more than 100 miles along Interstate 90 from Puget Sound to eastern Washington and encompasses protected working forests, farms, rivers, trails, wildlife habitat and many communities.

Leading conservation organizations such as Cascade Land Conservancy and the Mountains to Sound Greenway have been working for a decade to protect the property from development, which has also been a priority for the County Council, the executive and the King County Conservation Futures Citizen Advisory Committee.

“Based on the high value of protecting the Raging River watershed property, the committee recommended that King County reallocate funds from other proposed open-space projects to the Raging River watershed acquisition project,” said Terry Lavender, committee chair.

Under the proposal, King County would allocate about $3.2 million in Conservation Futures Tax funds (CFT) and $500,000 from the Transfer of Development Rights Bank (TDR) to assist with the purchase of roughly 4,000 acres of land.

King County’s participation in the acquisition effort would increase the possibility that DNR could purchase the entire 7,000-acre property from the current owner, Fruit Growers Supply Company. DNR announced in fall 2008 that it was working to acquire the land, and invited King County to be a partner as efforts moved forward to purchase.

In addition to County Council approval of the King County portion of the proposal, the proposed transaction must also be approved by the Washington State Board of Natural Resources, which guides management of state trust lands.

Washington DNR uses the proceeds from trust land sales to purchase replacement properties for the trusts, such as these being proposed in the Raging River area.

“I certainly appreciate the leadership shown by Executive Sims and the speed by which his staff have moved to support this potential land purchase,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark. ”Acquiring forestlands at risk of development is one of our goals.”

The transaction would provide King County with a permanent conservation easement on close to 4,000 acres, plus approximately 50 development credits, which the county can sell to developers seeking to increase the density of future projects in urban areas.

“I am so proud to play a role in the acquisition of this precious resource,” said County Council Member Reagan Dunn, whose district includes the Raging River watershed.

“The Raging River property is one of the last remaining large, privately held open spaces in King County, and if this deal is completed, it will be a jewel in this region’s inventory of open space forever,” Dunn said. “I want to thank Executive Sims for his fast work in closing the funding gap to make this project a reality and thank the State Department of Natural Resources, the Mountains to Sound Greenway and the Cascade Land Conservancy for their hard work.”

Sims also said that King County has received valuable support in pursuing the proposed acquisition from the Cascade Land Conservancy, which has been discussing the proposal with Fruit Growers Supply Company.

“Preserving critical habitat at the headwaters of the Raging River means securing a vital missing link in the Mountains to Sound Greenway, ensuring that people, fish, and wildlife have a continuous forested corridor from Puget Sound to the Cascades,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips.  “I am pleased to support King County’s partnership in this important open space preservation project.”

King County’s funding source for this proposed acquisition is the CFT fund and the TDR Bank. These CFT funds are collected from property taxes levied throughout King County and its cities for the sole purpose of purchasing and permanently protecting open space lands. The TDR Bank funds are proceeds from previous sales of development rights from other properties that King County protected through the TDR Program.

CFT funds are allocated during the King County annual budget each November, based on an application review process conducted by the King County Conservation Futures Citizen Advisory Committee in the spring.

Protecting the upper Raging River will connect large blocks of existing public lands, which include the 94,000 acre Cedar River Watershed, 13,000 acre Tiger Mountain State Forest, 1,800 acre Taylor Mountain County Forest, and the 2,000 acre Rattlesnake Mountain Scenic Area.

Today’s proposed acquisition is the latest in a series of transactions that have preserved natural resource jobs, plus open space and habitat across King County.

In late 2008, the county successfully acquired more than 45,000 acres of forestland and open space in the upper Green River Watershed at no cost to taxpayers by using the county’s Transfer of Development Rights Program. King County acquired the development rights to more than 90,000 acres of the Snoqualmie Tree Farm in 2004.

If the proposed Raging River acquisition is approved, King County will have helped permanently preserve more than 150,000 acres of forestland and open space – far and away the most successful open space conservation record of any county in the nation.

King County has preserved 1,800 acres on Taylor Mountain, plus another 1,600 acres in Black Diamond, and another 1,000 acres in the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative that protects the view of Snoqualmie Falls.

Related information

Raging River Transmittal Letter

Upper Raging River Watershed Map

Proposed Raging River Project Area Vicinity Map

Raging River forest acreage to fill gap in I-90 Greenway, Seattle Times (External link)

Groups move to protect Raging River watershed, King 5 (External link)

Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Program

Snoqualmie-Skykomish watershed

Forestry

Natural resource lands

Water and Land Resources Division