Negotiations On Preservations Begin

Sat., March 13, 1999

By Marny Lombard marnyl@spokesman.com (509) 927-2166

Spokane County is moving into negotiations on four properties which may be preserved as open land.

Appraisals on the four properties total $754,000.

The county’s Parks Advisory Committee directed staff to pursue negotiations when it met this week.

The largest piece is 455 acres west of Liberty Lake County Park. The land offers good wildlife habitat and keeps a corridor open for wildlife to move through the hills.

Other pieces include 84.5 acres adjacent to Camp Sekani, on Upriver Drive; 84 acres on Peone Prairie; and 12 acres on the west side of Spokane that once served as an electric trolley right of way. That property could become a link for segments of the Centennial Trail.

These four properties are among the top priority parcels that were nominated last year for the conservation futures program. Voters extended the conservation futures tax, which is a property tax, in 1997.

The county expects to collect just under $1 million annually in the program, which is intended to protect wildlife habitat, particularly if it is threatened by development or logging. Protected property also should provide a link to other open space or water access.

Four more appraisals are expected in the next few weeks, said parks planner Steve Horobiowski.

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