Looking up the Snoqualmie River. Photo by Paul Joseph Brown/LightHawk
From the shores of Puget Sound through thriving urban greenspaces, snow-capped mountain peaks, hard-working rural communities and bountiful farms, stunning natural landscapes and ready access to greenspace have made King County a top destination to live, work and play.
For more than 50 years, Washington’s Conservation Futures program has provided major land conservation funding that has been leveraged by 13 counties to protect more than 100,000 acres of farmlands, forests, natural lands, rivers, trails, and urban green space.
Make sure you get your ballot!
Voting in Washington couldn’t be easier — your ballot comes to your mailbox, and all you have to do is fill it out and send it back. Check the Voter Portal to be sure your address for voter registration is up to date.
But today, the state funding for this program isn’t keeping up with the need. Due to separate state legislation that limits annual property tax increases to 1 percent, far below the rate of inflation, the Conservation Futures program is only generating about half the revenue it was originally designed and expected to. This leaves rapidly growing counties like King without the tools needed to conserve essential - and rapidly disappearing - greenspace.
Now, King County is asking its residents to protect this program and fix the funding deficit by voting YES on Proposition 1 this fall, to restore Conservation Futures to the original 6.25 cents per $1000 in assessed property value. The levy would cost the average homeowner about an additional $2 a month in property taxes to help permanently protect these vital open spaces.
Trees in Seward Park, Seattle, WA. Photo by Rene Ramirez/TNC Photo Contest 2021.
Access to nature is essential for our well-being. Strong evidence shows that it can lead to decreased anxiety, better stress management, and even decreased aggression. And our trees absorb harmful CO2, protecting our air quality and helping to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. A healthy tree canopy in riparian areas helps keep our salmon populations healthy, helping to sustain our orcas in turn. Conserving and restoring floodplains helps to reduce flood risk for communities, and maintains healthy, connected ecosystems for wildlife.
King County’s Conservation Futures program includes an “Open Space Equity Cabinet,” which helps see to it that funding distributed through Conservation Futures is available to communities that need it most, seeking to increase recreation access and conservation values for residents in every corner of the county.
The benefits of preserving thriving natural environments are clear, and as King County faces steep population growth, increasing pressure on recreational facilities, and a changing climate, the task is urgent. Leaders from King County cities, businesses, farmers and environmental leaders have identified 65,000 acres of the last, most important lands that need conservation, but they can’t protect these places without proper funding.
By investing now, we can finish the job in a single generation and save $15 billion over what it would take under our current land preservation trajectory - protecting many of these lands before they are lost.
King County voters, vote YES on Prop 1 on your ballot this November!
Banner image: Trees in Seattle's Discovery Park. Photo by Hannah Letinich.
