Harris, Hasson Want Conservation Tax Put To Vote Fund Is Used To Buy, Preserve Property Having Exceptional Natural Features

Beth Harper and other Spokane Valley residents worked for two years to secure public ownership of an 84-acre patch of hiking trails, streams, and old growth cedar adjacent to Liberty Lake County Park.

The effort would have failed - and the land likely would have been logged - if not for the conservation futures tax imposed last year by Spokane County commissioners.

The tax costs property owners six cents per thousand of assessed value, or $6 annually on a $100,000 home. It will raise about $900,000 this year. The money is used to buy and protect properties with exceptional natural features.

County Commissioners Steve Hasson and Phil Harris have stated their intent to put the tax on an advisory ballot this fall. No date has been set.

Harris questions why government is in the business of buying land for conservation purposes, which he views as a luxury. Hasson supports the tax, but believes new taxes should be imposed only with a public vote.

Many Valley residents, however, are already organizing in support of the conservation futures program.

“I’m ready to help,” said Harper, a Veradale resident who leads nature walks for the Sierra Club. “It took the community to get Liberty Lake and the community will have to get together for this.”

“This is such a pittance and it can do so much,” said Brian Miller, a Liberty Lake electrical engineer who often hikes the trail that winds through the Liberty Lake cedar grove purchased with conservation futures tax money.

“It costs me $2 to get into Liberty Lake (County Park),” Miller said. “This is so little to give, if we don’t save these areas, they’re lost forever.”

An agreement to buy the Liberty Lake cedar grove was inked a day after the conservation futures tax was approved by county commissioners. The county paid property owner Denny Yasuhara $240,000.

But another property in the Spokane Valley known as Big Rock might be lost if the tax is repealed.

The 760-acre parcel east of Tower Mountain provides a wildlife corridor between Turnbull Wildlife Refuge, Mica Peak and Lake Coeur d’Alene. An elk herd, which roams from Latah Creek to Mica Peak, uses the area.

The area was deemed so important that a panel of county citizens ranked it the No. 1 priority for public ownership. The cost could exceed $1 million.

The state Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation has ranked the land as its No. 3 priority statewide and promised $500,000 for the purchase. It’s the highest ranking of any local government project and one of the few times an urban wildlife project in Spokane is earmarked for state money.

“Most of it has gone to buy Puget Sound waterfront. The money doesn’t make its way out east very often,” said Wyn Birkenthal, county parks manager.

“This is a steal of a deal for Spokane County,” said Harper. “That 700 acres is expensive but $500,000 of our tax dollars are coming back here.”

Harper, a horticulturist, said there are seven different ecosystems in Big Rock, an area used by hikers, horseback riders and naturalists. The Dishman Hills Natural Association has recently purchased 170 acres that will connect the Dishman Hills Natural Area to Big Rock, offering a huge natural area for residents of the urban area.

“If we don’t get Big Rock, it will be developed,” added Harper. “They’ll put a road back there and build houses - you can bet on it.”

Valley resident John Roskelley, a mountain climber and outdoor writer who sits on the county parks committee, said he has already contacted scouting and environmental groups to try and get commissioners to change their minds about putting the tax on the ballot.

Under the state Growth Management Act, he said, development will not be allowed unless there is sufficient open space and critical areas are protected. The conservation futures tax is perfect for the community because it allows the public to set aside open space, which is now mandated by the state.

In addition to Big Rock, which is close to Hasson’s home, the No. 2 county priority is a 400-acre piece of Lake Spokane frontage less than one-half mile from the home of Harris.

The land is across from Tum Tum and sits on the Spokane River peninsula that extends almost as far north as Chattaroy. An option on the pristine land, which has 4,000 feet of lake frontage, was purchased from owner Bob McLellan by the Trust for Public Land.

That organization has agreed to hold the property in anticipation that county will buy it with revenue from the conservation tax. If the tax is repealed, the family that now owns it might have to look elsewhere for a buyer.

“At my age, I feel we need to do something to preserve this unique land,” said McLellan, 78. “There needs to be a park or open space or something not only for our grandchildren but the public at large.”