Jan 2025
Happy new year! Welcome to our January edition.
Paul Clears the Trails of Hooven Forest
After the last two wind storms, the Hooven Forest trails were littered with debris — including some very large downed trees. Our neighbor Paul has been clearing the trails of Hooven Forest for years. While walking in Hooven Forest this week, we came across Paul working hard with chainsaw and belt to remove the broken end of a large Douglas fir that was driven straight into the bed of the trail during the last storm. Paul told us he was also responsible for limbing up a huge old maple at one of the trail junctions that split at the crotch and landed straight across the trail.
Paul told us he has years of experience working on trail maintenance from volunteering with both Trails Northwest and DNR. He lives near Hooven Forest, and has been clearing the trails for years. Our beanies are off to Paul. We hope you give him a hearty Thank You if you see him in Hooven Forest.
Friends of Hooven Forest on Social Media
We are looking to gather long and short form content (videos, photos, and essays). Thanks to everyone who has already submitted Hooven Forest testimonials and art — we love it all and welcome more!
We now have several social media channels — Instagram at @hooven_forest and Bluesky @hooven-forest.bsky.social. We are also planning to be active on YouTube @hooven_forest with longer form videos (interviews? walks in the woods?) and TikTok @hooven_forest. If you are interested in providing content, please email info@hoovenforest.org and let us know! Our many thanks to Adelle, who has set up these social media channels and is managing them on a volunteer basis. She grew up right next to Hooven Forest, and has walked and played in it since childhood. Her two dogs, Linus (her service dog) and Charlie, who are both unfortunately fighting cancer, just love their walks in Hooven Forest. Look at these happy doggo faces! Adelle would especially appreciate any good mushroom pictures you have from Hooven Forest for Mycelium Monday posts.
Dave Upthegrove Celebrates His Win As Lands Commissioner-Elect
Jeff and Solveig were honored to meet Commissioner-elect in person at his victory celebration on December 17 in South Seattle. In his speech, the Commissioner-elect personally thanked many of the people who worked on his campaign, especially those who helped cure the primary race ballots. As he won the primary by a mere 49 votes (after recount), it is a stark reminder that every vote counts.
The November election was also a close race with a challenging opponent backed by the timber industry. Dave reiterated that he took great pride in the fact that he accepted no money for his campaign from the timber industry and “99.9%” of his donations came from individual donors. When we met him in person after the event, Dave apologized again for missing our November meeting, and reiterated his commitment to meeting us after he is sworn in and his schedule is firmed up. Stay tuned - YOUR ATTENDANCE WILL BE CRITICAL when Dave comes back to meet us, and we’ve confirmed that we’re on his (likely long) list to be scheduled with his Chief of Staff. Stay tuned in February for the date and time for our meeting at Crystal Lake with Dave. We need your attendance to show community support for conserving this property. We also made several helpful contacts at DNR and in the Seattle conservation community at the event, and will follow up with them.
January 7, 2025 DNR Board Meeting
The DNR Board of Natural Resources will meet again on January 7, 2025. It’s worth listening in on a DNR monthly meeting to get a sense of how DNR land management works (although we expect a more conservation oriented approach under Commissioner Upthegrove). One of the most interesting things on the agenda this month is the Thorpe Land Exchange. This is a program where the DNR swaps a forest parcel with another revenue generating property, such as a rent paying commercial property. In the case of this month’s Thorpe Land Exchange, a developer is purchasing a Haggen grocery store and parking lot in Bellingham which will pay monthly rent to the DNR in exchange for a forest parcel in Spokane they will develop, as described here.
This illustrates two truths about the work ahead for our group: (1) At the end of the day, the DNR aims for all their properties to produce money through timber sales or development, and they are willing to get institutionally creative about how they get that money. (2) The easiest way to get money for a forest that is not ideal for logging is through a developer, as they are doing with this land swap. But it is not the only way for them to receive money, or more broadly community value, and finding another way forward is one of the primary goals of our community.
Thank you for reading our Newsletter, and we hope to hear from you soon!
Friends of Hooven Forest Steering Committee
Randy, Rosa, Jeff and Solveig
www.hoovenforest.org
We are a small group of concerned neighbors organizing ourselves to preserve the 180+ acre Hooven Forest. There is a risk of this land being developed for residential or commercial use, and we would like to conserve it for the environment and community.
This newsletter will be published approximately monthly at the beginning of the month. Please forward to your friends and neighbors — we want to get the word out about our effort to preserve Hooven Forest and recruit more support. If you are receiving this email from a friend or neighbor, you can sign up to receive your own copy of Friends of Hooven Forest Newsletters in your inbox by filling out this form at hoovenforest.org.
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