12-2016 Update

Dear Sky Valley Residents,snowflake

WE HOPE YOU HAD SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND ARE KEEPING WARM IN THIS COLD WEATHER   🙂

  • SVENA stands for Skykomish Valley Environmental & Economic Alliance. Our mission is to protect an environmentally and economically sustainable future of the Skykomish River Valley. We are working towards a safer, cleaner, healthier and more beautiful place to live, work and visit. You can find more information at our website svena.org.
  • It has been a very busy year for SVENA working with local and regional residents, businesses, non-profits, tribes, and with city/county/state and federal government. In 2017 our focus will remain on the following :

    spada-lake

    Highly protected Spada Lake and its watershed are major parts of the Morning Star Natural Resource Conservation Area (NRCA)

> Expansion of Morning Star Natural Resource Conservation Area (NRCA) (that includes highly protected Spada Lake and its watershed, one of the largest protected drinking water sources for Snohomish County) and famous and popular Wallace Falls State Park (WFSP);

> Conservation and restoration of an area around WFSP that is important for the tourism and recreation industry of the Skykomish River Valley, Snohomish County and Washington State. The final goal is to find alternatives for current and future timber sales next to the Park and to make the situation budget neutral for local junior tax districts. More info

> Reduction and elimination of toxic chemical spraying on tree farms in the Valley. More info

> Protection of public and private drinking water sources in the Valley from toxic chemical contamination. More info

> Promotion of sustainable and reasonable tourism and recreation industry in the Valley and improvement of its infrastructure including local highways. More info

  • If you are interested, please apply to be a member of the Morning Star Trails Planning Committee and/or take a survey. Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is forming a trails planning committee to provide recommendations for the plan. More info and application. For the survey, please go to Morning Star Trails Planning page and share your input. The survey and application process is open through the end of Jan. 15, 2017. Email David Way, Natural Areas Recreation Manager Northwest Region david.way@dnr.wa.gov to subscribe and receive updates on this planning process.

Morning Star Trails Planning web page

  • We would like to inform Sky Valley community about unprecedented and worrisome events. Despite long-time strong opposition from our local community including from SVENA, local towns and Snohomish County government, despite protests from numerous environmental and recreational groups of WA State, on January 3, 2017 Washington State Board of Natural Resources (BNR) approved auctioning of Singletary timber sale that is next to Wallace Falls State Park (WFSP) and will cut through the new high-quality hiking trails made by DNR.

    wallace-falls-winter-1

    Wallace Falls at Wallace Falls State Park, WA

MAP OF TIMBER SALES NEXT TO WALLACE FALLS STATE PARK

SVENA opposes to clearcut logging next to Wallace Falls State Park (WFSP), one of the most popular hiking destinations in Washington State that is becoming a big national and international attraction. On average, it has 175 thousand visitors annually.

Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently sold two timber sales next to WFSP despite the protests of many people and organizations to stop these timber sales and find other alternatives. Moonbeam and Singletary Timber Sales border WFSP and are a gate to more timber harvesting in the future next to the Park. Both timber sales are on the state land and greatly harm growing tourism and recreation industry of Sky Valley. 

If you would like to express your concerns about BNR approval of Singletary, clearcut logging and toxic spraying next to WFSP, great harm done and more harm coming to the local recreation and tourism industry, please email your short and clear message anytime to:

Washington State Board of Natural Resources (BNR)    bnr@dnr.wa.gov;
Hilary Franz, Commissioner-Elect of Public Lands  hilary@hilaryfranz.com ;
Kyle Blum, Transition Coordinator for Hilary Franz  kyle.blum@dnr.wa.gov;
Dave Somers, Snohomish County Executive  dave.somers@co.snohomish.wa.us;
Sam Low, Snohomish County Council, 5th District sam.low@co.snohomish.wa.us. 

  • We believe that SVENA is working on bringing a substantial value and benefits to the
    SVENA logo

    Logo of SVENA

    Valley and its residents. Please support our efforts and visit SVENA website, become a Sponsor, a Member or a Volunteer, join our Facebook Group, or simply click on a “Like” button on our Facebook page. Please spread the word, let us know if you have questions / economic, public health or environmental concerns / interesting facts or photos, if you would like to add someone to the mailing list or to opt out of receiving SVENA updates.

Warm regards,

Inessa Pearce
President
SVENA (Skykomish Valley Environmental & Economic Alliance)
svena.org

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