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For Immediate Release
Contact: Tom Teigen, Director
Department of Parks and Recreation
Tom.Teigen@snoco.org
425-388-6600 Ext. 6617
Conservation Futures Program Advisory Board Special Meeting and Celebration
Celebrating the Successful Acquisition of Approximately 5,000 Acres of Open Space
EVERETT, Wash., August 8, 2016—The Snohomish County Conservation Futures Program Advisory Board announces the successful acquisition of approximately 5,000 acres of open space for public use and enjoyment. A celebration will be held on August 11, 2016 from 3:30 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. in the County Administration Building East on the Snohomish County Campus in Public Meeting Rooms 1 and 2.
1. Conservation Futures Program Start
- Washington State created a Conservation Futures Program by Senate Bill No. 185 in 1971 which authorized purchases by counties, cities, towns or metropolitan municipal corporations to purchase development rights termed “conservation futures” and certain other rights and interests in real property and provided a method of taxation by counties to finance such purchases.
- Snohomish County created a Conservation Futures Program on November 23rd 1988 by Ordinance No. 88-097. The Ordinance authorized Snohomish County to levy taxes authorized by RCW 84.34.230 to provide a reliable and predictable funding source to help acquire interests in open space, wetlands, farm and agricultural land, and timber land in in both the unincorporated an incorporated portions of Snohomish County.
- Historic Acquisitions - Between 1988 and 2010, the Conservation Futures Program has contributed over fifty million ($50,000,000) dollars in funding to assist in acquiring approximately 5,000 acres of open space.
- On March 20, 2013, the Snohomish County Council approved Ordinance No. 13-018 which provided twenty five million dollars ($25,000,000) of bond proceeds to the Conservation Futures program, for funding eligible projects.
- In addition, between 2011 and 2016 a number of non-bond projects were funded through the Conservation Futures program. In total over six million dollars ($6,000,000) was expended on funding eligible projects. This brings the total of bonded and non-bonded projects to over $31 million between 2011 and 2016.
- The current celebration includes projects from 2011 to present, which includes bond funded projects and non-bond funded projects. In total sixteen (16) projects were acquired by cities, three (3) projects by non-profits, and twenty (20) projects by the County.
- The list below includes completed projects from 2011 to 2016:
| Sponsor | Project | Acquisition Type | Conservation Futures Contribution | Acres |
| City of Brier | Brier Nature Park | Fee Simple | $553,355 | 5.17 |
| City of Bothell | Boy Scout Property | Fee Simple | $200,000 | 31.45 |
| City of Edmonds | Civic Field | Fee Simple | $500,000 | 6.02 |
| City of Everett | Deckman Property | Fee Simple | $347,268 | 1.78 |
| City of Granite Falls | Lake Gardner Park Addition | Fee Simple | $24,918 | 23 |
| City of Lynnwood | Seabrook Property Acquisition | Fee Simple | $5,000,000 | 13.02 |
| City of Marysville | Crane Property Acquisition (Qwuloolt Trail Project) | Fee Simple | $240,000 | 10.13 |
| City of Mountlake Terrace | Terrace Creek Park Addition | Fee Simple | $280,921 | 3.02 |
| City of Mukilteo & Forterra | Japanese Gulch | Fee Simple | $3,297,500 | 116.41 |
| City of Snohomish | Stocker Farm Property Acquisition | Fee Simple | $500,000 | 23.39 |
| City of Stanwood | Ovenell Port Susan Bay Estuary Habitat | Fee Simple | $1,289,215 | 62.78 |
| City of Stanwood | Stillaguamish River - Tidal Estuary Access | Fee Simple | $156,000 | 2.01 |
| City of Sultan | Sultan River Nature Trails | Fee Simple & Lease | $324,600 | 3.36 |
| Forterra | Lower Wallace River | Fee Simple | $279,031 | 238.14 |
| Forterra | Riverbend Farm | Fee Simple | $100,000 | 130 |
| Forterra | Whitehorse Stilly (Pending) | Fee Simple | $250,000 | 33 |
| Forterra/Snohomish County | Port Susan Farms, LLC. | Easement | $904,948 | 194.31 |
| PCC Farmland Trust | Bailey Farm | Easement | $582,000 | 287.45 |
| Snohomish County | PDR - Cabe Farm | Easement | $181,000 | 33.29 |
| Snohomish County | PDR - People's Ranch | Easement | $33,620 | 321.26 |
| Snohomish County | PDR - Willie Green's Organic Farm | Easement | $341,000 | 42.38 |
| Snohomish County | Eastside Rail | Fee Simple | $3,508,000 | 170.36 |
| Snohomish County | Esperance School Acquisition - SW County UGA | Fee Simple | $823,950 | 3.35 |
| Snohomish County | Flowing Lake Park | Fee Simple | $1,630,910 | 156.63 |
| Snohomish County | Heybrook Ridge - Multiple Parcels | Fee Simple | $299,000 | 9.13 |
| Snohomish County | Hooven Bog (Bear Creek Headwaters) Acquisition & Restoration | Fee Simple | $1,650,000 | 60.92 |
| Snohomish County | Hwy 530 Memorial | Fee Simple | $131,832 | 13.37 |
| Snohomish County | Lake Stickney Addition | Fee Simple | $1,304,950 | 2.47 |
| Snohomish County | Meadowdale Park Access Acquisition | Fee Simple | $508,285 | 1.43 |
| Snohomish County | O'Reilly Acres | Fee Simple | $612,275 | 117.99 |
| Snohomish County | Steelhead County Park | Fee Simple | $170,378 | 23.55 |
| Snohomish County | Storm Lake Waterfront | Fee Simple | $1,250,000 | 163.89 |
| Snohomish County | West Lake Roesiger | Easement | $933,692 | 202.03 |
| Snohomish County | West Lake Roesiger | Fee Simple | $439,913 | 43.49 |
| Snohomish County | Whitehorse Trail Fortson Mill Acquisition - Dashiell | Fee Simple | $264,614 | 16.15 |
| Snohomish County | Whitehorse Trailhead | Fee Simple | $352,328 | 3.53 |
| Town of Darrington | Dashiell Land Purchase | Fee Simple | $149,500 | 0.83 |
| Town of Darrington | Evans Land Acquisition Phase 2 | Fee Simple | $81,347 | 5.2 |
| Town of Woodway | Deer Creek Park | Fee Simple | $1,630,000 | 4.38 |
| | TOTALS | $31,126,350 | 2,580.07 |