Drafter
Clerk 01/10/2003
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AN ORDINANCE authorizing the executive to grant a conservation easement over Taylor Mountain forest to the state of Washington Department of Natural Resources, in exchange for a $2,800,000 federal forest legacy grant administered by the state Department of Natural Resources and declaring an emergency.
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STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. King County is the owner of the approximately one-thousand-seven-hundred-acre Taylor Mountain forest, located at 276th Avenue Southeast in the unincorporated King County community of Hobart.
2. King County purchased the Taylor Mountain forest property in part with an interfund loan that it intended to repay with $2.8 million in funds anticipated to be received through a federal forest legacy grant.
3. The federal forest legacy grant program requires that King County exchange a conservation easement with the state of Washington, which administers the federal forest legacy grant program in Washington state, in consideration for the grant.
4. King County desires to put into effect the provisions of the federal forest legacy program upon certain property on Taylor Mountain forest, described in Attachment A (Property) to this ordinance, including the removal of development rights from the property for the purpose of: protecting forested lands that are threatened by conversion to nonforest uses; promoting forest land uses including timber production; protecting environmentally important areas; and meeting multiple conservation opportunities, including protecting important scenic, cultural, fish, wildlife and recreational resources, riparian areas and ecological values.
5. The state of Washington has the authority to obtain interests in real property for the purpose of conservation, protection and preservation under RCW 64.04.130, and in accordance with the provisions of the forest legacy program authorized by the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978, as amended by section 1217 of the Food Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (104 Stat. 3528) and Title XII of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 2103 c).
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings.
- The federal forest legacy grant, which was intended to repay the interfund loan used to purchase the Taylor Mountain forest, is awaiting the approval of the conservation easement assuring continued use of the land for forestry and recreation purposed.
- The conservation easement must be approved by January 31, 2003, to secure the forest legacy grant funding. As a result, immediate authorization for the granting of the conservation easement is in the best interest of the public, and this ordinance must be adopted on an emergency basis.
SECTION 1. The executive is hereby authorized to grant a conservation easement, substantially in the form in Attachment A to this ordinance, over certain property at Taylor Mountain, described in Exhibit A of the easement, to the state of Washington Department of Natural Resources, in consideration for a $2,800,000 federal forest legacy grant administered by the state Department of Natural Resources.
SECTION 2. The county council finds as a fact and declares that an emergency exists and that this ordinance is necessary for the immediate preservation of public peace,
health or safety or for the support of county government and its existing public institutions.
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publish 10 and not more than 25 days prior
news release/display format
Publish: Seattle Times, January 16, 2003
Hearing: Jan. 27, 2003
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