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Kittitas County Awards Luncheon draws 300

Largest gathering ever in Kittitas County

The Cascade Land Conservancy’s Conservation Awards Luncheon yesterday was the largest gathering of conservationists and friends of the CLC in the history of Kittitas County.

More than 300 people gathered at the Central Washington University Ballroom to hear about the work of the CLC and to honor local leaders of conservation for their work in the county.

Among the groups represented at the luncheon were the Kittitas County Farm Bureau and Cattlewoman’s Association, the U.S. Forest Service, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Washington Department of Parks and Recreation, Kittitas Audubon Society, the Ellensburg Chamber of Commerce, Central Washington University, the Kittitas County Board of County Commissioners and many others.

“Our theme for the lunch today is growing with grace,” said Jill Arango, Kittitas County Conservation Director for CLC.  “To me this means taking the opportunity to help create the kind of community we want to live in.  It’s not just about conserving our forests and farms, it’s about retaining the high quality of life we all enjoy.  Whether it’s fly fishing on the Yakima, not sitting in traffic on our way home from work, going to the rodeo, or just sitting on the front porch watching the sunset, we all value different aspects of living in Kittitas County, and it is those unique values CLC wants to enhance through our work.”

The CLC presented three conservation awards in Kittitas County.

The Martin Kaatz Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to the John Eaton and Robert Eaton, for the work of the Eaton brothers in farmland conservation. “I said the awards celebrate long-term passion and commitment,” said Jim Huckabay, emcee for the event in presenting the award. “That fits the Eatons and their work.  They show us that it is possible for individuals to advance The Cascade Agenda by creating solutions for the local agriculture community that work for fish, and farmers and ranchers.”

The City of Ellensburg was awarded the Conservation Creativity Award for their work here in historic Ellensburg.

“Our new city hall is a great reflection of the care the city takes in keeping Ellensburg a livable city, one of the critical goals of the Cascade Agenda,” said Huckabay, a Central Washington professor and local outdoors columnist.

The Innovative Conservation Project Award was presented to the Kittitas Conservation Trust, which monitors and stewards five conservation easements within the Suncadia Resort that protect 3,456 acres of functional wildlife habitat.

The award was presented to the partnerships that created the KCT -- David Gerth of the Kittitas Conservation Trust (KCT),  Art Solbakken of Suncadia Resorts,  Paul Ward of the Yakama Nation and Jeff Tayer of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Arango touched on several of the projects Cascade Land Conservancy has been involved with over the past year.  For example, the CLC is working closely with Kittitas County to create a transfer of development rights program that will simultaneously conserve working resource lands and achieve thoughtful placement of residential and commercial development.

CLC is also carrying on the work of the Cabin Creek Partnership. This is an unprecedented, multi-year, highly successful, public and private effort to conserve critical wildlife habitat, recreation access and ecological connectivity in Kittitas County. To date over 3,400 acres of land has been purchased from private landowners and transferred into public ownership. CLC is continuing to work with landowners in the area with nearly 300 more acres of conservation in the next year.

Looking ahead, Arango talked about several projects CLC is currently working on that will add to the 1,200-plus acres CLC has conserved so far in the county.

“One example is a partnership with the City of Ellensburg and Shape-Up Kittitas County to extend the trail from Irene Reinhardt Park to the Yakima Canyon,” said Arango.  “Imagine being able to get on the John Wayne Trail and circle around town and get all the way down to the canyon. What an incredible opportunity for our community.”[j1]

Dr. Jerilyn S. McIntyre, President of Central Washington University and a member of the CLC’s Cascade Agenda Leadership Team, welcomed the audience to the campus.  Dr. McIntyre told the group about a recent economic study that showed the economic impact of CWU on the local communities and the state of Washington.

Matt Manweller, a CWU Political Science professor, in asking the group for donations to the CLC said that “when we find a group that protects open spaces and still respects human liberty, we should all support that group. When we find a group that protects the environment and still respects the individual, we should all support that group.”

More than $34,000 was raised to support the work of the CLC in Kittitas County, about half at the event and half from sponsors.

Sponsors for the event included Puget Sound Energy, Community Conservation Sponsor; Fitterer’s Furniture, Principal Sponsor, and Plum Creek Timber Company, the Award Sponsor.

Sustaining sponsors were American Forest Land Company, MF Williams Construction Company and Washington State Department of Transportation.  Table sponsors included Central Washington University, Friends of Wildlife and Wind Power, Horizon Wind Energy, Knudson Lumber, Mountain High Sports, Suncadia Resorts and Gene Duvernoy, CLC President.

In kind sponsors included Bloomtime Nursery, Central Nursery and Starbucks.

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