Published: Thursday, July 31, 2008
Spirit of cooperation saves Heybrook Ridge
On the surface, it had the makings of a nasty battle. A timber company wanted to harvest 130 acres of forest it owned on Heybrook Ridge, a visually magnificent mountain ridge overlooking the town of Index. A citizen group quickly organized to stop that plan.
Instead of a fight, however, cooperation broke out. What followed became a model of how to solve such potentially contentious issues, one that values conservation while respecting the need for working forests.
The happy result: Instead of being clear-cut, Heybrook Ridge's mature trees will stay, and the area -- pending County Council approval, which is expected -- will eventually become a Snohomish County park greeting visitors to the newly christened Wild Sky Wilderness area. Getting there took a local group that was committed to its goal but reasonable in its approach; a timber company, W.B. Foresters of Stanwood, that was sincere about trying to do the right thing; the involvement of the Cascade Land Conservancy, which facilitated the sale of the timber company's land for market value; county officials who offered reasonable financial support; and an anonymous donor whose $500,000 gift made the whole deal possible.
Cool heads also made a difference.
"They approached it in a non-adversarial way," Debbie Buse, business manager for W.B. Foresters, said of the community group. "They recognized (the land) was of value to us, that it was not a land-grab attempt. They worked hard to purchase it at fair-market value. That's how it should be."
That's right in line with the goals of the Cascade Land Conservancy's, which uses market-based tools to preserve natural landscapes in the central Puget Sound region while meeting the needs of landowners. The CLC believes in limiting development while preserving working forests and farms.
Snohomish County, with the support of County Council members and Executive Aaron Reardon, is poised to approve $700,000 in conservation futures funds to the deal. The vision for the land, according to Louise Lindgren of the community group Friends of Heybrook Ridge, is to add trails and interpretive signs so the area can become "a living laboratory." Teachers are already excited about the opportunity of studying a forest that after being clear-cut a century ago was allowed to grow back naturally, Lindgren said.
Index will keep a natural jewel that serves as a gateway to Wild Sky, and one more draw for tourism. The timber company will be able to put the $1.21 million from the land sale into other acreage it can log. All thanks to cool heads that allowed cooperation to prevail.
Instead of a fight, however, cooperation broke out. What followed became a model of how to solve such potentially contentious issues, one that values conservation while respecting the need for working forests.
The happy result: Instead of being clear-cut, Heybrook Ridge's mature trees will stay, and the area -- pending County Council approval, which is expected -- will eventually become a Snohomish County park greeting visitors to the newly christened Wild Sky Wilderness area. Getting there took a local group that was committed to its goal but reasonable in its approach; a timber company, W.B. Foresters of Stanwood, that was sincere about trying to do the right thing; the involvement of the Cascade Land Conservancy, which facilitated the sale of the timber company's land for market value; county officials who offered reasonable financial support; and an anonymous donor whose $500,000 gift made the whole deal possible.
Cool heads also made a difference.
"They approached it in a non-adversarial way," Debbie Buse, business manager for W.B. Foresters, said of the community group. "They recognized (the land) was of value to us, that it was not a land-grab attempt. They worked hard to purchase it at fair-market value. That's how it should be."
That's right in line with the goals of the Cascade Land Conservancy's, which uses market-based tools to preserve natural landscapes in the central Puget Sound region while meeting the needs of landowners. The CLC believes in limiting development while preserving working forests and farms.
Snohomish County, with the support of County Council members and Executive Aaron Reardon, is poised to approve $700,000 in conservation futures funds to the deal. The vision for the land, according to Louise Lindgren of the community group Friends of Heybrook Ridge, is to add trails and interpretive signs so the area can become "a living laboratory." Teachers are already excited about the opportunity of studying a forest that after being clear-cut a century ago was allowed to grow back naturally, Lindgren said.
Index will keep a natural jewel that serves as a gateway to Wild Sky, and one more draw for tourism. The timber company will be able to put the $1.21 million from the land sale into other acreage it can log. All thanks to cool heads that allowed cooperation to prevail.
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