Will Hall was just a boy when he crossed the state line from Illinois to Wisconsin.

He was disappointed.

“I couldn’t see the line the way they showed it on the map,” Hall said.

On camping trips, he would sketch out how to optimize the campground. The water goes here, the beach and lake over here, the restrooms there.

His path was set. Today, he’s an expert in lines on maps.

After years mapping out the county’s population and housing growth, Hall is turning to a new job working for the County Council as a land-use analyst. It’s a new position meant to focus on the connection between traffic and land-use, as well as preserving farmland, and how development will occur near cities and tribal lands.

“We have to grow one way or another,” Hall said. “How we grow can sustain our communities and our environment for the future.”

His experience also is expected to smooth relations between the council and executive branches of government.

Government often is pushed to find quick solutions on deadlines. Hall said he is one to urge caution.

“The decisions we make in government stick around a long time and affect a lot of people,” he said. “The growth management act requires we plan for 20 years, but the question to ponder is whether 20 years is long enough.

“Look at transportation, water supply, salmon, agricultural preservation and climate change. These are not 20 year problems.”

All are on his to-do list as part of his new job studying these issues for the County Council, which drafts and adopts county planning policies.

“I’ll be busy,” Hall said.

Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.

Will Hall

Age: 44

Job: New land-use analyst for the Snohomish County Council

Job history: High school math and computer teacher; Snohomish County watershed planner; county planning manager since 2004 in charge of 35 employees and a $5 million budget.

A favorite quote: “We have to balance the desire to act quickly with the desire to act wisely,” said Bill Ruckelshaus of Seattle, who commented on local salmon recovery efforts. Ruckelshaus was the first administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and former acting director of the FBI.