Washington County eyes 600 acres for preservation

The county's voter-approved Land and Water Legacy Program might purchase five tracts of private land to guard water quality, prevent development and save the areas for public use.

By KEVIN GILES, Star Tribune

Last update: December 10, 2007 - 10:54 PM

Nearly 600 acres in Washington County would be saved for parks, trails and other public uses under a proposal designed to preserve some of the county's best forests and streams in their natural condition.

The county's parks and open space commission will recommend today that five "showcase" tracts of private wooded land -- in addition to several other properties -- be purchased under the county's $20 million Land and Water Legacy Program.

"We have a unique opportunity to help conserve some of that land," said Mary Hauser of Birchwood, a county parks commissioner. "We do have a lot of extraordinary land in Washington County."

County commissioners will review the proposals at a workshop. Any purchases would be intended to guard water quality and natural land from further development. Commissioners are expected to decide next week whether county officials can begin negotiations with the landowners, who in most cases would sell outright to the county or agree to put their land in conservation easement, which means it wouldn't be developed.

All of the properties have streams that feed into impaired waters, said Jane Harper, the county's principal planner. Preserving those natural areas, she said, will help prevent further sediment contamination along the St. Croix River. Six of the properties are adjacent to land already in permanent protection, and four others are nearby, she said.

"If we do come to agreement with landowners, the program will be doing what the voters were told it should do," Harper said. "Water quality was very much on the front page."

In addition, she said, two of the properties intersect with the county's proposed regional trail.

The voter-approved water and land effort is one of only two such county programs in the metro area. In 2002, Dakota County voters approved a similar $20 million plan to preserve natural areas and farmland. By October the county had spent about $18 million to preserve 6,100 acres.

The Washington County plan includes four tracts in Denmark Township along the St. Croix in the county's southeast corner, Harper said. Township officials have expressed concern about the land potentially dropping from the tax base, she said.

Any actual purchases won't happen until next year after the county determines how much money it wants to offer for the tracts, she said. Washington County has said it will pay "fair market value" but probably won't compete with developers' offers.

"The intent of the project is to create networks of ecological corridors," Harper said.

Kevin Giles • 651-298-1554