The city of Bothell announced Thursday its purchase of 35 acres of the North Creek Forest from The Boy Scouts of America, culminating years of hard work by citizen groups working to protect land that is important habitat for birds, fish and wildlife, according to a press release from the city.
Often referred to as Bothell’s “last great forest,” North Creek Forest is located only one mile from Bothell’s city center.
“The Bothell City Council, city staff and our citizens worked for years to bring together the public private partnership that has preserved this beautiful forest,” said Bothell Mayor Mark Lamb. “The purchase of the North Creek Forest is a conservation legacy that Bothell is securing for generations to come.”
The land acquisition is fully funded through sources other than city tax dollars, it states on the city’s website. Those funds include grants from Washington State Department of Commerce, Snohomish County Conservation Futures, and King County Conservation Futures; and funding through the King County Proposition 2 Park Levy. Under city management, the new parcel will be preserved as open space and be available to the public for passive use. With several schools within walking distance, the forest has great potential to become an outdoor laboratory for education and research.
Jim Freese, interim director of Friends of North Creek Forest, described the purchase as “historic” and “the outcome of ten years of grass roots efforts on the part of the Friends, and Help Our Woods (HOW) to showcase and protect the forest.”
“You don’t find this kind of forest in a city. This is a game changing piece of property. When a city saves something like this it alters the future: for fisheries, for education and for all Bothell citizens,” he said.
For more information check the city’s website here.
Information from the City of Bothell
