Category Overview
As Washington continues to grow, many of our most beautiful areas are threatened with development. In addition, native ecosystems are receding, and important wildlife habitat and migratory pathways are being cut off. The Natural Areas category helps combat this by funding projects that protect wildlife habitat and rare geological features while also preserving public access for back-country recreation.
Project Highlights
All items necessary for an acquisition were completed for all parcels. All identified parcels were acquired. The DNR Trust parcel was acquired 10/15/19. The Fruit Growers parcel was a segregation from the larger parcel, and the intended parcel was acquired on 10/28/2020. The segregation and negotiations were complex, but resulted in a successful acquisition of the entire natural area. The negotiations were quite complex for the Fruit Growers parcel due to several factors including rights of ways and insurance. We were able to find mutually agreeable solutions, but it did take longer than originally scoped. Given this, much of the post purchase and stewardship work will be done in the years to come. Because of the good ecological condition of these parcels this is more than acceptable to us.