The Daily Yonder Timber, Condos, Glamping? States Debate Land Use to Fund Schools With diminishing revenues from traditional use of trust lands, states turn to alternatives like aggressive real estate development, stoking fears of unwelcome changes to long established communities.
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This stand of state trust land forest near Washington’s Merrill Lake is logged to provide revenue for schools. (Source: The Pew Charitable Trusts)
Checkerboarded across the landscape of the American West are thousands of parcels of state-owned land that collectively cover an area larger than North Dakota. They include vast swaths of forest and prairie, fracking wells, coal mines, luxury housing developments, parking lots, cell towers and solar panels.
By Zuri Anderson
Apr 20, 2021
KOMO.
The fire reportedly began as a burn pile in Green Valley that spun out of control, consuming over 50 acres of land. Level 2 evacuation orders are in place for residents living in or near the area as of Tuesday (April 20), reported added, meaning they should stay somewhere else or be ready to leave at a moment s notice.
“The hard part with this fire is that it got up into the hillside and there are areas that are not accessible by a fire engine, brush truck and being able to stretch hose line,”
Pat Pawlack said, spokesperson for the local fire response.
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Timber, Condos, Glamping? States Debate Land Use to Fund Schools
This stand of state trust land forest near Washington’s Merrill Lake is logged to provide revenue for schools.
The Pew Charitable Trusts
SEATTLE Checkerboarded across the landscape of the American West are thousands of parcels of state-owned land that collectively cover an area larger than North Dakota. They include vast swaths of forest and prairie, fracking wells, coal mines, luxury housing developments, parking lots, cell towers and solar panels.
Known as state trust lands, these parcels were given to Western states as they were admitted to the Union, setting them up with a long-term revenue stream to fund public services, primarily schools. Although the rules can vary by state, government officials generally have broad leeway to manage the lands to provide that education funding. Historically, that’s often come from timber harvesting, agriculture and grazing lea
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Whidbey Island residents take precautions against wildfire under national program
Communities in western Washington are clearing vegetation to prevent wildfires, under the guidance of the national Firewise program Author: Glenn Farley Updated: 8:18 PM PDT April 7, 2021
COUPEVILLE, Wash. Last year, Labor Day weekend was a wake-up call. Fires raged on both sides of the state including fires near Deception Pass leading to the north end of Whidbey Island and were put out with the help of helicopters said the Washington Department of Natural Resources.
Washingtonians can no longer assume that the wetter west side of the state is immune from wildfire, and that bad fires are only a problem for the typically drier part of the state east of the Cascade Mountains.