King County Open Space Amendment
Thanks, King County voters, for voting to preserve open space and protect the Northwest quality of life we all enjoy!
The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust wholeheartedly supports the proposed Open Space Amendment to the King County Charter. Charter Amendment #4 will be placed before voters on November 3, 2009.
This amendment would afford extra protection to 156,000 acres of ecologically valuable parks and natural areas. "This amendment would add much needed protection to open space lands 
that are essential to our quality of life and a sustainable ecosystem," says Ken Konigsmark, Greenway Trust Board Member. If passed, the amendment would require a supermajority vote of King County Councilmembers, a public hearing and a 28-day waiting period to sell or transfer lands. The kinds of properties that could be considered for sale or transfer must meet specific conditions. (Conditions include degraded conservation value, maintaining the property in public ownership is no longer practical, or open space values would be better served by substituting another property.)
Snoqualmie Forest, preserved by a King County conservation easement
King County already owns the lands affected, and this amendment does not require the purchase of any new land. There are no direct costs associated with its passage. "As we at the Greenway Trust know by experience, having land in public ownership is not always sufficient to ensure it remains so. We applaud the King County Council for placing this amendment on the ballot, and we support further protection for these valuable conservation and outdoor recreation properties that the county owns," says Cynthia Welti, Greenway Trust Executive Director.
Since 1991, the public has invested over $200 million to acquire lands to create the Mountains to Sound Greenway. The Greenway now includes hundreds of trails for outdoor recreation, parks and campgrounds, spectacular alpine scenery, critical high country wildlife habitat, historic towns, lakes, rivers and over 350,000 acres of publicly-owned lands in King County alone. These lands provide clean water, clean air, outdoor recreation and great economic benefit to this region. As a tribute to its beauty, the stretch of I-90 within the Greenway has been designated a National Scenic Byway.
The continued conservation of public open space is core to the mission of the Greenway Trust. To that end the Greenway Trust endorses the Open Space Amendment.
Read our op-ed piece published in the Issaquah Reporter.
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