Working-forest bill clears Senate

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal bill that would boost efforts to preserve thousands of acres of working forest in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties overwhelmingly has passed the U.S. Senate.

Backers are now looking to the House of Representatives for support.

Senators backed creation of a nationwide program that lets qualified nonprofit conservation groups sell tax-exempt bonds and use the money to acquire forestlands and sustain forestry activities on the property. Up to $1.5 billion in bonds would be issued.

Such a program would enable Evergreen Trust Fund to raise money to begin buying development rights on some of the 650,000 acres targeted for protection through the Cascade Foothills Initiative. The intent is to sustain logging, hiking and other recreational pursuits on the land.

Democratic Sen. Patty Murray proposed the program in an amendment to Senate Bill 1637, a measure dealing mostly with replacing an array of corporate subsidies with a variety of tax breaks and tax credits. The bill passed 92-5 with Murray and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell backing the law. The House is writing its own version.

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