A city-council, school-board promise fulfilled regarding Bothell’s woods | My Turn

More than a year ago during a Bothell City Council meeting, the councilmembers engaged in a lively discussion about the value of the parcels known as The Boy Scout Property on the side of Maywood Hill in Bothell. The steep, wet acreage became a point of discussion thanks to the efforts of a local advocacy group known as HOW, Help Our Woods. For more than a decade, HOW has fought development of the 63.8 acres consisting of six parcels, and encouraged the city and community to save the forest for future generations and the wildlife living there.

By Sandi Clement • April 18, 2012 1:09 pm
From left
From left

More than a year ago during a Bothell City Council meeting, the councilmembers engaged in a lively discussion about the value of the parcels known as The Boy Scout Property on the side of Maywood Hill in Bothell. The steep, wet acreage became a point of discussion thanks to the efforts of a local advocacy group known as HOW, Help Our Woods. For more than a decade, HOW has fought development of the 63.8 acres consisting of six parcels, and encouraged the city and community to save the forest for future generations and the wildlife living there.

The woods provide multiple benefits to the environment through air and water quality, ensure habitat for animals squeezed by development and give residents and visitors a beautiful Bothell.

Bothell’s City Council strives for fiscal responsibility to their taxpayers. Therefore, the lively discussion going on more than a year ago was about the use of taxpayer funds to match grants provided by the county or state. The council felt torn by a desire to preserve and protect a valuable Bothell asset and the need to use increasingly limited funding wisely and representative of its citizens.

In an inspired moment, Mayor Mark Lamb stated that if all the 600-plus petition signers would follow his lead in donating, this debate would resolve itself. Councilmember Patrick Ewing was quick to embrace this challenge. Northshore School Boardmember Dawn McCravey pledged to match Ewing’s donation at the break when an appropriate time for public comment occurred.

Our local representatives on the Bothell City Council and Northshore School Board deserve a hand for their unwavering dedication to a better Bothell.

In the past year, HOW has received 501C3 status so matching funds could be donated by our community and the pledges made that night could be optimized. This status allows donations to be tax deductible and many companies will match the donation to HOW. The funds are dedicated to saving the forest and preserving habitat there. HOW echoes the sentiment of our city council to provide funding through community outreach and donations.

HOW recently partnered with the city of Bothell once again to apply for another King County Conservation Futures Fund grant. It has been successfully completed and filed, so the hard work of collecting matching funds begins. HOW needs your donations to help make this dream a reality. It is our pledge to dedicate all collected funds to the purchase and revitalization of the forest. HOW is a nonprofit organization that exists solely for this purpose. We are the only nonprofit 501C3 organization able to collect donations for saving these woods.

Please send your tax-deductible donations to:

• Help Our Woods

19803 108th Ave. N.E.

Bothell, WA 98011

If your company has a matching-funds program on employee donations, HOW qualifies for those programs.

Learn more about us at: www.helpourwoods.com.