King County Voters: Yes on Prop 1 for Trails and Open Space

• Cascade endorses Proposition 1 on the King County ballot to increase funding for buying and preserving open space for trails, recreation, and conservation.

• Check the mail around Oct. 21 for your ballot and vote Yes on No. 1!

King County’s Conservation Futures program has protected more than 100,000 acres of land and trails vital to bicycling and outdoor recreation including the Sammamish River Trail, Eastrail, and Cougar Mountain.

Cascade Bicycle Club urges King County residents to vote YES on Proposition No. 1, the Conservation Futures Tax Renewal, on the November ballot.

If approved, the measure will renew the tax and increase funding to conserve open spaces and acquire land for trails in King County. Election Day is Nov. 8 this year.

“Cascade endorses ballot measures that create policy or funding that improves the safety and accessibility of biking, walking, and rolling in Washington state,” says Vicky Clarke, Cascade’s policy director. “That’s exactly what the Conservation Futures Tax Renewal does.”

To date, the Conservation Futures program has safeguarded more than 100,000 acres for recreation and conservation in King County.

In addition to Cascade, supporters of Yes on 1 include: The Nature Conservancy, Mountains to Sound Greenway, Forterra, Trust for Public Land, The Wilderness Society, Vashon-Maury Land Trust, Seattle Parks Foundation, REI, King County Executive Dow Constantine.

Initiated in 1982, the Conservation Futures fund has been used to buy trail rights of way including for the 42-mile Eastrail. As the county looks to extend the Eastrail from its southern terminus at Gene Coulon Park, the Conservation Futures fund is being eyed to purchase land to lengthen Eastrail into downtown Renton–where it could connect with other regional trails.

If approved, the measure would cost the average homeowner about $2 more per month, with relief available to qualified low-income seniors and other households.

“If you ride, walk, or roll on the Eastrail or Sammamish River Trail, you’ve benefited from the Conservation Futures funding,” Clarke says. 

In addition to trail rights of way, the Conservation Futures program has been used to preserve and acquire urban green spaces, wildlife and salmon habitat, farmlands and forests, and river corridors within King County.

Click here to see the full ballot measure and the statement in support of a Yes vote.