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Partnership developing to preserve habitat, working forest in Raging River headwaters
Summary
This is one of the last remaining large, privately held open spaces in King County and the single-largest unprotected block of land remaining in King County’s portion of the Mountains to Sound Greenway. It includes some 7,000 acres in the upper Raging River watershed, east of State Route 18 near the highway’s junction with Interstate 90.
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Narrator says:
This is one of the last remaining large, privately held open spaces in King County and the single-largest unprotected block of land remaining in King County’s portion of the Mountains to Sound Greenway. It includes some 7,000 acres in the upper Raging River watershed, east of State Route 18 near the highway’s junction with Interstate 90.
Today the county took steps to protect this land from development forever. Partners in the project, which include the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Cascade Land Conservancy and the Mountains to Sound Greenway have put together an agreement to buy the land from its current owner, the Fruit Growers Supply Company.
Peter Goldmark: Commissioner of Public Lands says:
The department of natural resources has many missions but one of its missions which is being put into reality here in the near future is the acquisition of forested lands that are at risk of development and keeping those lands in working forest condition for future generations, for income for the trusts, for recreation for all of the public and for the tremendous ecosystems that are preserved here for clean water, clean air, carbon storage and many other things that are irreplaceable.
Narrator says:
The proposed acquisition includes nearly four miles of prime spawning habitat on the Raging River, which is home to nearly one-fifth of the Snoqualmie River Basin’s chinook population. Longtime advocate for the project Jim Ellis was on hand for today’s announcement.
Jim Ellis: Open space advocate says:
Here we’re looking out over the surrounding land that’s going to look nothing but better under the stewardship of the next generation.
You’re going to have both a resource that’s visually spectacular, recreationally superb and another foot hold to bringing back salmon as we should see them and the whole ecological system that requires butting up properties that work together and fit, it’s tough to do isolated pieces, but here we have a joining of tremendous pieces and it’s the leadership that makes things happen. This greenway and all of the work that’s been done by DNR, King County , cascade land conservancy with Gene and others all sews together and what I see it sewing together is a tremendous labor of love.
Narrator says:
The land purchase proposal was delivered to the King County Council today.
Terry Lavender/: King County Conservation Futures Citizen Advisory Committee says:
We recommend to the King County Council that all of the conservation futures dollars reallocated this year from open space projects that have not shown progress be transferred to this project, that’s the ordinance before you. Along with money awarded in past grant rounds and other funding sources this puts King County in a really strong position to partner and assist with state DNR to complete this incredibly important project. And on a personal note as Ron said, as a longtime advocate for open space, farmlands and nearby timberlands, I have to tell you, it just doesn’t get any better than this.
Regan Dunn says:
This has been privately held and at risk for development for a long time, it’s a big donut hole in the middle of other areas that have been protected and it really is a huge and one of the last huge pieces to connect this whole string of what we call the Issaquah alps an important wildlife corridor all the way into Bellevue and so it is so critical to protect it.
Larry Phillips says:
We are fortunate to live in this region, to be able to celebrate days like this where we come forth and say the landscapes of this county, the landscapes all of us have treasured for so long are going to be bit by bit preserved for ourselves and for future generations.
Narrator says:
The Raging River watershed has long been on the agenda of King County Executive Ron Sims.
Ron Sims:
This is going to be a working forest, but it’s also going to be a place where we’re also going to have salmon runs, we’re going to have wildlife habitat, this is going to be here for generations, it will be here in perpetuity. We have a wonderful partnership.
When I was asked by my staff what are some of the things you want to accomplish before you go, I remember saying Raging River, just give me the Raging River. And they said why, and I said because Mr. Ellis and I walked along that river and I got caught up in it and I would just like to be able to walk out one day and shake his hand and say we got the raging river done.
Narrator says:
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 during the Sims administration – far and away the most successful open space conservation record of any county in the nation.
