Friends of North Creek Forest would like to thank Maximilian Dixon and the whole UW/Cascadia Earth Day team for organizing this great event. We were encouraged by the steady stream of faculty and students who stopped to ask a question and stayed for a conversation.

The interest in the North Creek Forest is deep and broad and well informed. Visitor to our table learned about our current efforts but were already educated about the concepts and they shared them with us. Some are obvious. Others are often overlooked. For example:

After we answered questions about the forest visitors would emphasis their own perspective. Their observations ranged from biology, open space, salmon recovery, quality of life, carbon sequestration, forest ecology, education opportunities, wildlife corridors and matrix, and stewardship. These topics could be expected and added details to an already rich understanding of the forest. There were less common observations as well.

A developer, CamWest, owns part of the forest. Before the housing market crashed the developer hoped to build houses along the upper part of the forest. That lead to a classic confrontation between development and forest loving people out of which stereotypes can too easily take root. What is not spoken of enough, and was refreshing to mention, is that CamWest is very green in their philosophy. CamWest is a supporter of Cascade Land Conservancy and a significant contributor to the design of "walkable communities". When we told people about this they showed interest. One conservation minded business student said, "That is the ethic we need!" Amen.

Did we spend much time talking about developers? No. But when the topic fit we were able to put a more realistic light on solutions that include the good will of all parties. Because it will take all of us to save this forest. It's a team deal.

The other topic which received much attention and came from faculty was about stewardship. While Bothell Parks would be the official custodian of the forest it takes a lot of work to ensure needs are met. A good amount of time was spent brainstorming ways stewardship can grow out of education programs. If you are reading this and have ideas about who "pulls the weeds" leave a comment for us.

Perhaps most hopeful were the students we met. They not only saw the North Creek Forest as a sign of hope for education and conservation. Many offered to help. No. We didn't ask. They just offered. So students, if we boosted your optimism a bit you boosted ours too. Thank you!

We welcome your comments below...

Next venue, Earth Day at Bastyr. See our Explore page for a link.

Tonight the Bothell City Council voted unanimously to apply for grant money targeting the purchase of property in the North Creek Forest. The city was flexible, supportive and responsive to a very tight time line. Immediately after the meeting we were approached by Clark Meek, Facilities and Park Capital Project Manager. We had our first meeting and everyone left with an assignment. This item has moved from concept, to city management, through a Council vote and into action in four business days. That's impressive!

We appreciate our council members for their faith in, and commitment to this work. Seven council members arrived at a consensus from seven perspectives. It says a lot about this conservation goal but it also says a lot about our council members. Thank you.

We would like to thank citizens who attended the meeting and the four people who spoke before the council.

Maximilian Dixon: Thank you Maximilian. You only had 20 minutes to prepare and that included travel time from your class at UW Bothell. Maximilian posed the question we were all present to ask and read part of Warren Gold's endorsement letter (see our endorsement page for a copy) Great lead off.

Eric Adman: Thanks Eric: You led us all to remember this is a watershed and Puget Sound issue. It added the element of connectivity we always need to include in these decisions.

Marilyn Knutson from Friends of Northshore spoke of the significance of the forest to the watershed and, along with Eric reminded us of the large number of conservation groups working toward sustainable practices. Thank you Marilyn!

Clyde Merriweather, President of Cascadia Environmental Science Center honed in on the tremendous education potential offered up by the North Creek Forest. He explained what a gift this forest could be in answer to the current shortage of outdoor urban study locations students have to pick from.

In the history of the North Creek Forest April 19th is going to be a day to remember. In forest terms memorable days are few. The last may have been back around 1900 when it was logged. So today we can sing, "I once was logged but now I'm found." :)

Good week everyone and we are only two days into it.

A final reminder:
Don't forget Earth Day at UW/Cascadia on the 21st and Bastyr on the 30th. See our contact page for details.

Our endorsement list doubled in 2 weeksI

April 19th, 6:00 PM  City Council Meeting
Municipal Court Building  10116 NE 183rd St
We will formally ask the City Council to apply for a grant at this meeting. It would be encouraging to the Council if you could attend. The purpose in attending is to show the Council you are behind them in choosing to go forward with this grant application. We really need to work together and their commitment needs to be supported by us.

Moving forward with this grant application will be a positive signal to landowners, educators, conservationists, fisheries concerns, recreation backers and all other supporters of North Creek Forest. This is a significant step in affirming our ability to accomplish something magnificent as one united community.

Background

Good Advice
On April 11th we met with Cascade Land Conservancy. They are skilled in finding conservation solutions meeting the needs of multiple parties. They offered several initial suggestions, advice on matching grants, a bit of homework for us and showed an interest in engaging key parties in a dialog.

Forest Visit
Today, April 15th, Laura Moxham representing the State of Washington Recreation and Conservation Office drove up from Olympia to tour the forest and discuss the application process to apply for a Land and Water Grant. She has suggested we apply for a grant that could be used to match other resources we already have. This is a big deal but we need to move quickly as the deadline for application is May 2nd. We have offered to do the work of writing the grant application but Bothell must apply for it.

City of Bothell
Steve Anderson, Deputy City Manager, offered the following helpful advice. The City Council must direct the city to make the grant application. To do that they must be informed about the cities responsibilities under the terms of the grant. So.... all grant details must be forwarded to the city in time for distribution to council members before they meet next Tuesday April 19th. This basically means getting grant details to Mr. Anderson today. [Done] There are no other meetings before the grant deadline.

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