Nickels announces plan to save city forests

At a south Seattle greenbelt yesterday, Mayor Greg Nickels announced a plan to raise up to $50 million over the next 20 years from public and private sources to save the city's urban forests.

"If we don't act, ivy and the other invasive species will choke our forests" and turn city greenbelts into "ecological wastelands," Nickels told about 100 people at the Cheasty Boulevard Greenspace.

Nickels' goal through the Green Seattle Partnership is to restore the 2,500 acres most at risk by 2024.

Restoring an infested forest is expensive, about $20,000 per acre. To defray the cost, the city has formed a partnership with the Cascade Land Conservancy. The partnership hasn't lined up any big donors yet.

"It's obviously ambitious, but people care about the environment here and they care about keeping the Emerald City emerald," said Steve Nicholas, the city's director of sustainability and environment.

The city owns about 3,700 acres of forest, about 60 to 70 percent of which is infested with invasive species and is likely to die within 20 years without action, said Nicholas.

In addition to their aesthetic and recreational benefits, city forests help clean dirty air and act as a natural catch basin for runoff, said Mark Mead, city forester.

English ivy comes from people's homes and gardens and migrates to forests. Then it climbs up trees, suffocates them and prevents them from reseeding.

Through the Green Seattle Partnership, the Land Conservancy and the city will seek funding from foundations, corporations and other donors. The city will split with the Land Conservancy the $100,000 of first-year startup costs to get the partnership, including the fund-raising campaign, started. The city's $50,000 share will come out of Nickels' existing budget.

Coinciding with Nickels' announcement, EarthCorps volunteers yesterday pulled ivy at Cheasty Boulevard Greenspace.

Other cities have dealt with the invasive-species problem with mixed results.

Mercer Island voters recently overwhelmingly rejected a voter initiative to raise taxes $12.5 million over 10 years to eradicate its ivy problem.

By contrast, Nickels' plan would offer modest public financing of the forest effort, about $680,000 between now and 2006, with the goal of raising more through foundations, corporations and private donors, Nicholas said.

At least one critic questioned the mayor's priorities.

"He's not asking for a big tax increase or cutting off important city services, but as a citizen, I'm thinking, 'Is this the most important thing the mayor can be spending time and money on?' He may want to spend it on the condition of the roads," said Paul Guppy, research director of the Washington Policy Foundation.

J. Patrick Coolican: 206-464-3315 or jcoolican@seattletimes.com