Washington - KING COUNTY
Countywide program - Formed in 1979 - researched by Don Stuart

OVERVIEW -With more than 1.7 million residents, King is the most populous county in the nation with a substantial agricultural easement program. The county covers 1.4 million acres, including the urbanized Seattle area on the west and mountains and national forest land on the east. County government created one of the earliest easement programs in the nation when voters approved a $50 million bond issue in 1979. Almost all of the funds were spent in an initial spurt of easement purchases in 1984-1985 that acquired more than 95 percent of all acres to date. Only sporadic acquisitions have taken place since then. Washington does not have a state government funding source for farmland protection, so virtually all of King's purchases have been supported by its bond issue and other local revenues. Easements are concentrated in a small number of agricultural preserve districts that contain the most productive agricultural areas in the county. King County also has had a transfer of development rights (TDR) program since 1993, although transfers have primarily protected forest and other nonagricultural lands.

EASEMENT ACTIVITY -Approximately 13,000 acres in 196 parcels. Most easements (12,658 acres in 187 parcels) were initially acquired in three rounds of purchases in 1984-1985, with few acquisitions since then.
Goals: No specific program goals.
Other Easement Programs: Several land trusts are focused on other open space lands. The county has purchased in fee and placed easements on several farms in strategic locations.

FUNDING
Acquisition Spending to Date: $58 million spent on agricultural easements.
Revenues: Initial revenues for the program came from the original $50 million bond issue which was almost completely spent in 1984-1985. Acquisitions since that time have been funded by smaller sources, including interest funds and a portion of the Farms and Forests Initiative-a later bond issue. A small amount of federal funds also has been used. Landowner donated easements total 27 acres.

GOVERNANCE - This program is staffed by the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks and is treated as one of King County's "Agriculture Programs." A seven member selection committee appointed by the County Council oversaw the initial acquisition process. In 1995, the King County Agriculture Commission was established to advise the County Council and Executive on ways to enhance and promote commercial agriculture in King County.

STAFF AND OPERATING BUDGET - A single staff person operates the program, currently emphasizing stewardship activity. Information on the operating budget is not available.

ORIGINS - Concerned that nearly half of the county's farmland had been taken out of production in the previous 20 years, a Farmlands Study Committee was appointed in 1976 by the county government. The Committee recommended a purchase of development rights (PDR) program. With the strong support of the elected County Executive, a bond issue was put before the voters. It took three elections before the required 60 percent voter majority, with a minimum turnout of 40 percent of the last general election, was achieved. The measure, providing $50 million in bond money, passed in November 1979. In the meantime, the King County Office of Agriculture, created to administer the program, designated priority zones for easement acquisitions. Litigation held up the first acquisitions until 1984. An initial TDR program for just the county's unincorporated areas was adopted in 1993. A more expansive TDR arrangement that included receiving areas in cities was formed as a pilot activity in 1998 and made permanent in 2001.

ACQUISITION PROCESS AND STRATEGY - From the first, the program has used non-quantitative discretionary factors to review applications and has emphasized geographical targeting. The focus is on a small number of Agricultural Production Districts, defining the most productive agricultural lands and created through the county's planning process at the outset of the program. Three area-based priorities were initially established: (1) Farmland located within the Sammamish, Lower Green and Upper Green River Valley Agricultural Production Districts; (2) Farmland in designated areas of the Snoqualmie Valley and the Enumclaw Plateau, and 1,500 acres in other areas in parcels larger than 40 contiguous acres; and (3) All other farmland within established agriculture districts and designated agricultural lands of county significance. In the first two acquisition rounds, only properties of the first and second priorities were considered. All three priorities were considered in the third round. The County Agriculture Commission evaluates applications and purchase decisions are approved by the County Council.
Rating of Parcels: Not quantitative, see below.
Other Criteria: Priority is also given to offers below appraised value, active agricultural use, relative development threat, parcels in contiguous farming areas and service as urban separators.

CONNECTIONS TO LOCAL PLANNING AND LAND USE POLICIES - Pertinent county policies include an Urban Growth Boundary (encompassing 460 square miles of the county's total of more than 2,000 square miles) and a requirement in the Comprehensive Plan that land taken out of an Agricultural Production District through city annexation be replaced within the district by land of equal or better agricultural value. Agricultural easements in some locations have blocked city expansion in certain directions.
Zoning: In agricultural districts, residential densities are one unit to 10 acres (1:10) for parcels under 35 acres and 1:35 for larger parcels.
PDR Arrangements: Sending parcels are in agricultural or other rural areas and receiving parcels are in unincorporated urban areas or within specific city areas covered by county-city agreements. The county funds a TDR bank and also can pay for community amenities to compensate for the increased densities created in receiving areas.

DEMOGRAPHICS
2000 Population: 1,737,034
1990-2000 Population Change: +229,729 residents; +15 percent

AGRICULTURAL LAND
41,653 acres: 58 percent cropland
Conversion to Urban Use: Comparative conversion data not available.

OTHER AGRICULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
1997 Market Value: $94 million Number of Farms: 1,091
Principal Commodities: Dairy products, nursery and greenhouse crops, cattle

MAP NARRATIVE - EASEMENT GEOGRAPHY (PROGRAM MAP)
Easements are highly concentrated in the Agriculture Protection Districts located in the Sammamish River, Snoqualmie River, Lower Green River, Upper Green River and Enumclaw Plateau areas. Contiguous easement blocks flank scenic highways in the Snoqualmie and Upper Green districts.

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