King County, King Conservation District form partnership to offer new grant opportunities

Community-based conservation organizations in King County have a new funding source for projects that are designed to save dwindling forestland or restore valuable wildlife habitat.

A partnership between the King Conservation District (KCD) and the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks' Water and Land Resources Division (WLRD) is providing $75,000 in grant funding for six conservation and restoration projects in 2007.

"While more than half of King County is forested, much of those lands are degraded and their value as fish and wildlife habitat is diminished," said WLRD Director Mark Isaacson. "Joining with the King Conservation District to provide grant funding means we can help protect what's left of the quality habitat, and help restore areas that need help."

"This kind of working relationship between agencies is what allows on-the-ground conservation efforts to continue to grow and have a lasting impact on the diminishing ecosystems," said King Conservation District Chair Matt Livengood. "The district is looking forward to continuing and expanding this type of partnership into the future."

This year the partnership is funding six projects:

• Friends of Fremont Peak will reforest the upper portions of a newly acquired wooded park, which is surrounded by critical slopes in the midst of the densely populated Fremont and Phinney Ridge neighborhoods in Seattle;
  
  
• Friends of the Trail will clean up illegal dumpsites on public lands and along waterways in rural and suburban King County;
  
  
• Friends of Dakota Place Park will create a park on the grounds of a former City Light substation in West Seattle. This park, which features wildlife habitat and low impact landscaping practices, will provide green space and habitat in a densely populated neighborhood;
  
• Vashon Forest Stewards will provide internships for young people to learn sustainable forest management practices and habitat restoration techniques on Island Center Forest;
  
  
• International District Housing Alliance will provide summer jobs in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest for immigrant and refugee youth and will introduce inner city youth to forestry in different types of environments, from relatively pristine mountains to highly degraded inner city greenbelts;
  
• The Nature Consortium will engage young people from central and south Seattle in restoring the West Duwamish Greenbelt, the largest remaining contiguous forest in Seattle, which borders the highly industrialized Duwamish River corridor.

The grants will be administered by King County. For more information about grants and other assistance for environmental projects visit the Grant Exchange Web site at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/pi/grants.htm or the King Conservation District Web page at http://www.kingcd.org/.

Since 1949, the King Conservation District has helped the people of King County manage their natural resources through education, demonstration projects, providing technical assistance, and providing or pointing the way to funds for projects.

The mission of King County's Water and Land Resource Division is to help protect King County's water and lands so that its citizens can enjoy them safely today, and for generations to come.