Seeing the future for the trees

Buying development rights to a working tree farm in the Cascade foothills is one of those bold steps that will amaze future generations with its foresight.

The proposal announced Thursday by King County Executive Ron Sims would pay Hancock Timber Resource Group $22 million for development rights on 90,000 acres of the company's Snoqualmie Forest. King County Council must endorse the deal. Ninety-thousand acres is a vast sweep of land twice the size of Seattle. This forest tract has been long desired and was at the heart of a creative plan by the Cascade Land Conservancy to sell tax-free revenue bonds to buy 104,000 acres outright. The legislation required tweaking of the federal tax code and approval by Congress, which has been very slow to act.

After admirable displays of corporate patience by Weyerhaeuser, the timber giant sold the tree farm to Hancock, a company respected for its green sensitivities and logging practices. Both houses of Congress have passed their own versions of the IRS changes, but they are still not law.

The idea of the county buying development rights to protect open space was invoked as a way to act, now. Hancock's continued interest, cooperation and acquiescence are appreciated.

On one level, the county's urban-growth boundary is helping contain sprawl and maximize public investment in the infrastructure that sustains growth. The opportunity to look across that line and look ahead 50 or 100 years is extraordinary.

Nothing about acquiring development rights precludes the outright purchase of the land if the legal and financial devices that make it doable and affordable take shape.

This is a deal that involves a willing private property owner and government officials who see the bigger picture. Future generations will only marvel at the opportunity they seized.