Urban parks, suburban camp to benefit from Conservation Future Funds

Council Approves Funding for Parks, Open Space

Projects ranging from urban parks in two of Seattle’s densest neighborhoods to the acquisition of a camp in Federal Way will benefit from today’s unanimous approval by the Metropolitan King County Council of Conservation Futures Funds. The Conservation Futures Fund program is dedicated to the purchase of open space, greenbelts, wildlife habitat and trails.

“With King County cities growing at a rapid pace, these Conservation Futures purchases will help ensure that green space remains,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips. “Preserving natural habitat in urban environments means a better quality of life for citizens and a healthier ecosystem for our future.”

“I believe our citizens care about parks, open space and a healthier habitat for our wildlife,” said Councilmember Jane Hague. “These Conservation Futures Fund investments fulfill these goals.”

The Conservation Futures Fund is supported by a countywide property tax, which by state law can only be used to purchase open space or resource lands. While county government and incorporated city governments are the primary applicants for these funds, citizen groups and individual citizens have received Conservation Futures Funding through partnerships with local jurisdictions committed to helping acquire the open space. Recommendations on parcels for purchase are made by a Citizen Oversight Committee in a competitive application process.

CFF funds will be used to:

• Purchase property on the east side of the Capitol Hill neighborhood which will be used for the creation of an urban park. Similar parks in the University District and the Denny Triangle community north of downtown Seattle will also receive CFF funds to create green space in these high-density communities.

• Acquire additional parcels for the Kiwanis Ravine, home of a Great Blue Heron colony, in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood.

• Acquire parcels that the city of Bellevue will use to connect the city’s open space system. The city’s top priority is a parcel south of Interstate 90 that improves the connection between Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park and Cold Creek Park.

• Acquire wooded buffer property adjacent to Kirkland's Yarrow Bay Wetlands Park, a preserve located on Lake Washington just north of State Route 520.

• Purchase parcels along the May Creek Corridor: A wooded parcel that is the missing link in the May Creek Trail in Newcastle and wooded parcels contiguous to public land in the May Creek corridor east of I-405 in Renton.

• Acquire Camp Kilworth, a 25-acre, wooded property on Puget Sound, located in Federal Way.

Read more about this legislation on the King County Council’s LEGISEARCH system. Type in “2008-0075”