By Katie Metzger / Bothell-Kenmore Reporter
BOTHELL — Shelton View Forest Stewardship Association members and supporters packed the room at two recent Bothell City Council meetings, appealing to the city to help preserve the wooded land in north Bothell.
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources, which owns 26 acres of the forest, had given the city until 2018 to raise the funds to buy the land. The price tag is estimated at between $2.6 million and $3 million.
Facing financial challenges in its 2019-2020 budget, the council decided not to set aside any money for the purchase.
More than a dozen Shelton View supporters spoke at the Nov. 27 meeting against that decision, describing the need for green space and urban forests and the importance of protecting natural land for future generations.
Many said that residents in the northern part of the city and Snohomish County feel forgotten by the council at times. They want the city to help them preserve their park, as Bothell has done with the North Creek Forest and Wayne Golf Course.
The stewardship association already has worked with Snohomish County to secure a $1 million grant to help purchase a 16-acre parcel of the forest owned by MC Coast, which was looking at development.
At the Dec. 4 meeting, city Manager Jennifer Phillips announced that she was working on a two-year extension with DNR that wouldn’t require a financial commitment from the city. The council approved the extension unanimously.
Councilmember James McNeal, who founded the OneBothell group that helped protect Wayne Golf Course, said that Bothell now has a track record of preserving open space, but that it takes a lot of work.
“Just because it can’t happen today doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen at all,” Bothell resident Jackie Sanders told the council on Nov. 27. “We need to think about where our children are going to play and what will draw people to Bothell.”
Hillary Sanders, association president, said her group is interested in working with the city on a volunteer stewardship plan.
This story originally appeared in the Bothell-Kenmore Reporter, a sibling paper of The Daily Herald.
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