Snoqualmie Tree Farm

The Snoqualmie Tree Farm is 90,000 acres, which is nearly twice the size of Seattle and stretches from Snoqualmie Falls nearly 25 miles north into Snohomish County and nearly as far east from Duvall and Carnation.

Weyerhaeuser

Weyerhaeuser owned and operated the tree farm, improved the gravel roads, set up power and phone lines, and provided amenities such as trails and community picnic areas. In March 2003, a $185 million deal was signed to the Boston-based Hancock Timber Resource Group to control an area of forest long coveted by Northwest conservationists.

King County

In 2004, King County agreed to acquire the development rights of the Snoqualmie tree farm from Hancock Timber Resource Group for $22 million through a deal made by the Cascade Land Conservancy. Hancock, which bought the land from Weyerhaeuser Co. of Federal Way in March 2003, will maintain ownership and logging rights to the land, but any development is controlled by the county, according to King County Executive Ron Sims. In addition, King County will purchase 150 acres of land along the Tolt River to protect Chinook salmon spawning habitat, Sims said. The transaction is expected to close in late 2009.

More Information

King County News Release (December 2, 2004)

King County, business and conservation partners celebrate Snoqualmie Forest preservation