As we witness the development that is taking place in our area, we are glad for the jobs and homes it creates. Still, something is destroyed in each of us when a forest is cut down.

We can feel both sad and powerless. The good news is that community groups are doing something about it. Will you join one of them, Friends of North Creek Forest, to insure that our last great urban forest and its wildlife are protected?

North Creek Forest is a 64-acre stretch that lines the west side of Interstate 405, just north of the 195th exit, all the way to Canyon Park Junior High, about a mile. With more than half of it saved, and 29 acres remaining, we are getting close.

With a $500,000 grant that must be matched in order to be used, we are at a critical juncture. Can we match it before the grant expires or before it gets developed?

What we can afford to give goes deeper than our pockets.

Take the time to learn about this forest, offer volunteer hours or attend a fundraising event with tours of the forest. We are a grassroots non-profit group who wants to insure a forest for future generations. See our website for details: friendsnorthcreekforest.org.

Mark Twain said something that is even more true today: “Land, they don’t make it anymore.”

Jeanie Robinson, Friends of North Creek Forest president