1996 Farm and Forest Report
King County, Washington

The Farm and Forest Report presents the results of a study focused on "rural farm and forest study areas" which had been identified during the preparation of King County's 1994 Comprehensive Plan. These study areas included approximately 61,000 acres of forest lands and 6,000 acres of farmland within the rural zone.

The Farm and Forest study was carried out during the summer and fall of 1995 by a consultant team in cooperation with the King County Agriculture Commission, citizen advisory committees representing farming and foreshy interests, a task force of County staff, and hundreds of citizens who attended public meetings and responded to mailed
questionnaires.

The consultant team conducted tours of all the study areas by both land and air, conducted nearly 40 interviews of key leaders, held four public meetings and nearly two dozen meetings of the citizen advisory committees, and distributed project newsletters to every property owner within the study areas. This outreach effort was coupled with a review of the available geographic information system (GIs) data regarding the study areas, and a search of the literature for preservation strategies that had been successfully implemented elsewhere in North America.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Executive Summary
Chapter 2 - Background
Chapter 3 - The Rural Farm and Forest Districts
Chapter 4 - The Landscapes of Rural King County Goals for Preservation Incentives
Chapter 5 - A Strategy to Preserve Farms and Farming
Chapter 6 - A Strategy to Preserve Rural Forests
Chapter 7 - Implementation
Bibliography

Appendices

Appendices B, C, D, E, F and G

• B - Farm and Forest Incentive Programs: Draft Criteria for Acquisition of Development Rights
• C - Assessed Value of Selected Farm Properties Participating in the Current Use Taxation Program
• D - Brochure from Cooperative Extension, "Owning and Operating a Farm-Based Business: How To Grow It and How To Sell It!"
• E - King County Department of Development and Environmental Services, Fee Structure
• F - Snohomish County Amended Ordinance No. 93-040, Right To Farm
• G - Suggestions for a King County Right-to-Farm Ordinance

Appendix H - Ways to Keep Forestry Viable in King County, Ways to Preserve Forestland in King County

Appendices J and K

• J - Small Landowner Conservation Contracts
• K - Summary of Right to Forest Laws Recognized by the National Woodland Owners Association, Snohomish County Amended Ordinance No. 93-083, Right to Practice Forestry

Appendices L and M

• The Use of "Dynasty" Trusts
• October 13,1995 Memorandum Re: King County Farm and Forestry Project Preliminary Conceptual Plan

Appendices N, O, and P

• Rural Forest Land Conservation Program
• Potential to Locate Development Rights on Lands Abutting the UGA Line
• Acquisition Program Details

Appendix Q - Comments on Draft Farm and Forest Report