King County/Hancock White River Forest Agreement

Last week, the 9-member King County Council unanimously approved the purchase of a conservation easement for the White River Forest east of Enumclaw.  Councilman Reagan Dunn said, “Preserving this land keeps this area a working forest, protects local jobs and guarantees that generations to come will benefit from this purchase.  This conservation easement also helps to preserve land that is used by many county residents for a variety of recreational activities.”  Although the Council is officially non-partisan, it is made up of four Republicans and five Democrats.  In an age of political divisiveness, it is unusual to have such unanimity on an issue.  Even so, it appears the county's decision is becoming a divisive issue in our town's political discussions.

Two separate issues have emerged-- allowing public access to the White River Forest and the issue of development in the forest.  First, some background:

In 2003, Weyerhaeuser sold its 115,000-acre White River Tree Farm to Hancock Financial Services, a Boston Corporation, for $1810 an acre, a very high price for timberland.  (Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company "demutualized" and ceased to exist in 2000, becoming Hancock Financial Services.)  Later in 2003, Manulife Financial Corporation of Canada announced its purchase of Hancock.  In April 2013, the King County Council approved a conservation agreement with the Manulife subsidiary Hancock, essentially buying development rights but allowing certain sustainable forestry practices to continue.  It is similar to the county's purchase of the 90,000 acre Snoqualmie Tree Farm in 2004.

Regarding public access, Weyerhaeuser allowed limited access to the White River Forest, although it maintained gates on most of its entry points.  After Hancock purchased the timberland, the company continued to allow limited access, although it imposed a fee structure in 2012.  Those fees were reduced for 2013.

Many citizens, including some who supported the conservation agreement, were unhappy about the access fees, or at least the amounts.  One-day access permits from Hancock cost $8 for an individual, $45 for an annual pass, or $15/$80 for a family.  For comparison, current fees in the same area are $10/$30 for State Parks, $5/$80 for U.S. Forest Service, and $15/$30 for Mt Rainier National Park.

Regarding development issues, some local citizens who dislike the agreement wanted development to be permitted in the foothills east of Enumclaw.   Others who wanted those lands protected from development are pleased with the outcome.

While negotiations between Hancock and the county were going on, Enumclaw's state senator and representatives, Pam Roach, Cathy Dahlquist, and Chris Hurst, were asking the legislature to extend the Chinook Scenic Byway designation to Farman Street at the eastern edge of town.  They succeeded in their efforts last month. Some of those who favored the conservation easement voiced concern that it would be contradictory to develop the 410 corridor through the White River Forest and then open it to commercial development.

Another requirement of the agreement is sustainable forestry.  During the century that White River Lumber Company and Weyerhaeuser worked the forest, they had an incentive to think in the long term.  It took 40-60 years to grow a harvestable tree, so that time frame factored into replanting and logging schedules.  Any corporation has investors, and they often think in shorter terms--current profits, share price, and dividends.  However, those pressures were tempered by the nature of company itself--a tree-growing enterprise, dependent on harvests decades away.  Hancock Financial Services by design was a money-growing corporation, with even greater pressure than a timber company to produce results this quarter and this year.  That incentive does not align itself with sustainable forestry.

The conservation agreement offered a different incentive to Hancock.  Money in hand will be a boost to the company.  Giving up development rights was the cost, but development would have been many years away, so the agreement satisfied the shorter term priorities of the investors.  Hancock can still log, but with some restrictions for sustainability.  The public pays a cost in taxes, but has a permanent forest for future generations.

After weighing the long-term costs and benefits, the bipartisan King County Council made the decision to protect the White River Forest from development.