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Agencies report hundreds of acquired acres and flag maintenance, policy shifts in monitoring forum
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Summary
At the monitoring forum covering the 2021–2023 biennium, agencies reported dozens of acquisitions (examples: McLaughlin Falls — 339 acres; Simcoe — 598 acres; State Parks — 298 acres costing $7.25 million) and raised concerns about post‑acquisition maintenance funding and a $110 million ADA settlement backlog at State Parks. RCO signaled policy changes under consideration including higher appraisal‑waiver thresholds.
The Habitat and Recreation Lands Coordinating Group’s monitoring forum reviewed acquisitions and lessons from projects funded in the 2021–2023 biennium.
Matthew Trenda, real estate services manager for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the agency proposed nine projects and acquired land on eight of them. He highlighted three projects: McLaughlin Falls West (339 acres acquired of 730 proposed; acquisition aided by a tribal partnership with the Colville tribe), Simcoe 2020 (598 of 5,112 proposed acres acquired; part of a multiyear phased acquisition), and Twin Rivers (acquired all proposed 216 acres and protected approximately 2,800 linear feet of shoreline). Trenda said some parcels were not available because landowners declined to sell and that the department can follow up to check whether those lands later sold to other buyers.
Tanya Moore, property and acquisition specialist for Washington State Parks, reported six of eight forecasted projects were completed, totaling 298 acres with acquisition costs of $7,250,000. She highlighted Mount Spokane (the Bear Creek Lodge parcel, which is under a park master plan review and for which staff recommended replacing the existing building with a smaller park office), Deception Pass (Hone Road acquisition to address trespass and encampment issues), the Green River Gorge (Icy Creek Ridge — the first successful phase there in ~20 years), Miller Peninsula and other small inholdings, and boundary cleanups at Grayland Beach.
Robin Hamill, real estate manager at the Department of Natural Resources, described acquisitions that required mid‑grant pivots: Upper Dry Gulch (DNR trust land transfer and coordination after a private sale to Chelan County PUD), Rattlesnake Mountain (partnering with King County using a conservation easement to stretch grant dollars), and De Bod Bay (scope changes due to unavailable original parcels, with staff acquiring alternate nearshore parcels and, in one case, a condemned structure that yielded ~500 feet of shoreline).
Multiple attendees raised the long‑term cost of maintenance and operations after acquisition. Brock Miller and others urged that agencies attempt to capture avoided operations costs when evaluating inholdings and easement purchases; agencies acknowledged discussions but said they had not yet quantified those savings consistently across projects. Trenda and others said recent reductions to recreation land maintenance budgets have prompted conversations about post‑acquisition stewardship and partnerships to manage ongoing costs.
Nikki Fields summarized State Parks’ budget results and an Americans with Disabilities Act settlement that affects the agency: State Parks obtained $1.5 million for Fort Wharton and spending authority to lease and manage Beebe Bridge State Park, and the department estimates about $110 million in improvements statewide to meet the ADA settlement. Fields said the department secured $5 million in the current biennium and plans to request larger amounts in future budgets.
On policy directions, RCO staff told attendees they had received direction to propose acquisition‑policy changes including raising the appraisal‑waiver threshold (noted in discussion as increasing a small‑property appraisal waiver to approximately $35,000) and reconsidering grant caps for incidental costs such as noxious‑weed control; RCO will circulate draft language and open a public comment period of several weeks.
Why this matters: the monitoring report documents what agencies acquired, where remaining gaps exist, and the fiscal and management implications for holding and stewarding public lands. Agencies said monitoring helps surface opportunities to coordinate on stewardship and funding priorities.
Next steps and products: RCO will finalize and publish the monitoring report PDF and an online forecast dashboard ahead of an October forecast forum; agencies will continue coordination about maintenance funding and policy changes, and RCO will run a public comment period on proposed acquisition‑policy changes.