UPPER GREEN RIVER WATERSHED PROTECTED FOREVER IN KING COUNTY-PLUM CREEK CONSERVATION AGREEMENT
SEATTLE--Dec. 10, 2008--The environment and the economy both get help from an agreement between King County and Plum Creek that gives the county a conservation easement on nearly 45,500 acres of forestland at no cost to taxpayers.
In exchange, Plum Creek will continue to manage the land as a working forest, and will receive 514 development credits that allow for increased density of development in urban areas. Plum Creek plans to eventually sell these credits to developers.
Through this agreement, the upper Green River Watershed is now permanently protected through King County’s Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Program. Sims and Plum Creek Chief Executive Officer Rick Holley signed the historic agreement Tuesday. King County acquired the conservation easement – which is more than twice the size of the City of Bellevue – at no cost.
“This agreement is growth management at its finest,” Sims said. “At no cost to taxpayers, rural open space and its environmental benefits are protected; forest jobs are protected, development and the jobs it creates is directed to urban areas.”
“These timberlands have been well managed by Plum Creek, and this agreement ensures that timber jobs will remain an important part of our region’s economy,” Sims said. “We are grateful to Plum Creek for helping us achieve these important outcomes.”
“Plum Creek recognizes these lands have special values and we were pleased to work cooperatively with King County to create this agreement, which benefits King County, the community and the company,” said Holley.
Sims said the agreement is the first of several actions he is taking in coming weeks to protect or increase jobs locally during the nationwide economic crisis.
"King County is a national leader in TDR, and this deal is further evidence to the County's strong commitment to using innovative tools to steer growth away from valuable open space and forest lands and into urban areas,” said Bill Fulton, a nationally recognized urban planning expert. “It makes a lot of sense to use TDR to create increased development opportunities in areas where transit and infrastructure exist. Doing so costs the county less in the long term. Executive Sims is to be commended for his commitment to TDR as a smart growth tool for King County."
The protected nature of the watershed, which has limited public access, makes the land highly valuable fish and wildlife habitat. The watershed provides drinking water to the City of Tacoma and neighboring communities, is home to northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet – both protected by the federal Endangered Species Act – plus bear, elk, deer, mountain lion and numerous other fish and wildlife species.
The conservation easement prohibits all future residential development of the land, but allows Plum Creek or future landowners to continue timber harvesting operations consistent with Washington state forestry law.
King County’s TDR program is a voluntary, market-driven, incentive-based growth management and land preservation tool. Since 2000, King County has now used a total of 764 TDR and has a commitment for purchase of 200 more to redirect development potential away from rural and resource lands and into the urban areas.
The TDR program works by allowing private land owners in rural and resource areas of the county to sell their development rights to developers for more compact developments for additional density in areas where expensive infrastructure such as utilities, highways and transit already exist.
The agreement for the upper Green River Watershed Plum Creek is the second-largest land conservation transaction that King County has accomplished through its TDR Program. In 2004, Sims signed an agreement with the Hancock Timber Resource Group in which King County acquired development rights for the 90,000-acre Snoqualmie Tree Farm at a cost of $22 million.
With the Plum Creek agreement in hand, King County has protected more than 138,000 acres through its TDR program– making King County’s program far and away the most successful program of its kind in the nation. More information on the TDR program is available at http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/stewardship/sustainable-building/transfer-development-rights.aspx.
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Plum Creek is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowner in the nation with more than 7 million acres of timberlands in major timber producing regions of the United States and 10 wood products manufacturing facilities in the Northwest.
King County is the 14th-most populated county in the nation, with a population of more than 1.8 million and an annual budget of $4.9 billion. King County encompasses more than 2,130 square miles and features more than 760 lakes and reservoirs, nearly 1,000 wetlands, six major river systems and 3,000 miles of streams.