September 2, 2004

King County has agreed to acquire the development rights of more than 90,000 acres of the Snoqualmie Forest from Hancock Timber Resource Group for $22 million through a deal made by the Cascade Land Conservancy.

Hancock, which bought the land from Weyerhaeuser Co. of Federal Way in March 2003, will maintain ownership and logging rights to the land, but any development is controlled by the county, said King County Executive Ron Sims.

In addition, King County will purchase 150 acres of land along the Tolt River to protect Chinook salmon spawning habitat, Sims said. The transaction is expected to close later this fall.

Sims said in a statement that the agreement "reinforces the urban growth line, protects timber industry jobs, acts as a buffer to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area and ensures the area will always remain green to the crest of the Cascade Mountains."

Sims signed the agreement, but the King County Council in October will consider appropriating the funds.

Money for the purchase comes from the Conservation Futures Tax, which is collected on taxable property in the county. It can only be used to protect open spaces or resource land.

The count has spent about $175 million in Conservation Futures revenues over the past 15 years to protect 15,000 acres of land at a cost of approximately $11,666 per acre. Most of the previous purchases were for full ownership of the land. The Snoqualmie Forest development-rights transaction protects 90,000 acres for $22 million, or $244 per acre, Sims said.

"The bang for the buck on this is huge," said Sims. "While current regulations would prevent a large number of homes from being built on a majority of this land, as time goes by the pressure will intensify to develop this area that is such a short drive to the Seattle metropolitan area."

"This is 145 square miles of forest land that will continue to be a working forest, and never become a strip mall," said Larry Phillips, chairman of the County Council.


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