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Port of Illahee Department of Ecology Grant
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For more than a century, the 352-acre Illahee Forest was managed by the DNR as a revenue generator for the state’s School Trust Fund. Throughout the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, the DNR floated a series of development proposals for Illahee (one of which called for up to 1,700 residential dwelling units) designed to maximize revenues for the School Trust Fund. For nearly three decades, citizen advocates continuously argued that the property should be preserved for future generations. In 1999 the state enacted legislation that allowed the DNR to provide revenue for the School Trust Fund by purchasing Illahee’s timber value with funding from a separate account (the Trust Land Transfer Fund) so that Kitsap County could afford to purchase the underlying property for future park use. After nearly two years of intense negotiations (including six separate appraisals) Kitsap County purchased Illahee Forest from the DNR for $3 million in the spring of 2001. This transaction still represents the largest purchase price paid for park property in County history. The purchase was primarily funded with Impact Fees, which enabled to County to gain ownership of the property, but also severely limited the amount of funding available for near-term future site improvements. In the past two years, the County staff has spent hundreds of hours working hand-in-hand with inmate labor crews, Americorps personnel and community volunteer organizations to remove more than 85,000 pounds of garbage and trash; 21 junked cars; 9 engine blocks; 17 large appliances; and 1 telephone booth. In 2001-2002, the department revised its operating budget to cover all costs associated with this work, along with the costs of installing six concrete barriers (“ecology blocks”) and constructing numerous ditches and earthen barriers (“tank traps”) in an attempt to limit access to the site. In 2003, staff secured $100,000 in new funding to construct nearly 2,000 linear feet of guardrails (to further limit access), off-street parking facilities, control gates and an electronic monitoring system for the park’s main entrance. An additional $500,000 in funding has been established for capital improvements in the 2004-2009 Capital Facilities Plan. The full text of the stewardship plan can be found on the Kitsap Parks and Recreation Website |
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