In the News

SEATTLE - A quiet move in Congress puts preserving park land in Washington at risk.

Money has been cut off for the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Jeanie Robinson is president of the Friends of North Creek Forest.

“It's going well with hundreds of people who've supported us,” she said as she walked into the 42 acres of woodland just five minutes from downtown Bothell.

“There are about seven wetlands in this forest, and the original name of this area is called Spring Hill.”

Robinson and her neighbors rallied to raise money to buy it from the owners -- and that included roughly $800,000 from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.

The money comes not from taxes, but from oil and gas leases.

Utah Republican Rob Bishop has shut the fund down because he wants to limit federal spending on park land. He simply refused to allow a vote on the fund in the House Natural Resources Committee he chairs.

Senator Patty Murray and local Congresswoman Suzan DelBene toured the forest in August.

“Taking care of these natural resources and protecting our environment is critical to preserving the quality of life that we cherish,” she said on the House Floor last month.

Washington State is one of the largest beneficiaries of the Land and Water Conservation Fund -- more than 600 million dollars in the last 50 years.

But now park projects all over the region are at risk if Congress doesn't find a way to restore the fund.

“Our kids need places like this,” Jeanie Robinson said. “We need it, the health and the serenity they afford, it's irreplaceable.”