Raging River Forest Land Acquired

The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and partner organizations announced the public acquisition of 7,000 acres of forestland in the Raging River Valley. Surrounded by public lands, filling this “doughnut hole” is vital to the continuity of a forested corridor in eastern King County.  Bordered by Rattlesnake Mountain on the east, the Cedar River Watershed on the south, Taylor Mountain Forest to the southwest and Tiger Mountain State Forest on the west this acquisition fills a major gap in the connected forestland in the Mountains to Sound Greenway and protects a salmon-bearing river.

“This purchase will permanently preserve another large piece of the Greenway along I-90 for sustainable forestry, habitat and public access,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark. “King County, Cascade Land Conservancy and the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust have been terrific partners in helping make this purchase a reality.”

The Greenway Trust coalition has worked for over a decade to find a way to keep this land as forestland by bringing together agency representatives, other nonprofits and interested citizens.

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources purchased the land and King County purchased the development rights on 4,000 of those acres using Conservation Futures funding, a voter-approved levy to purchase open space. The deal will keep an existing working forest in perpetuity instead of potential future development south of the city of Snoqualmie.

“With our ability to get the right people to sit down together to find common solutions, to find public funding for land purchases and to continually promote the vision of a connected landscape, the Greenway has been a successful catalyst for public land acquisitions,” says Cynthia Welti, Greenway Trust Executive Director. The Greenway Trust coalition has placed over 140,000 acres of land into public ownership with an additional 70,000 acres protected by conservation easement for the public’s benefit over the last 18 years.

Mountains to Sound Greenway with Raging River acquisition in red	Raging River Forest Land Acquisition Close Up