Public lands on Tiger Mountain include Tiger Mountain
State Forest and the City of Issaquah's Tradition Plateau Natural
Resources Conservation Area; a total of over 14,000 acres of forested
land which includes almost 70 miles of year-around hiking trails. The
entire acreage is managed by Washington State Department of Natural
Resources (DNR). Within the total 14,000 acres, 4,400 acres on the NW
side of Tiger are managed as the "West Tiger Mountain Natural
Resources Conservation Area," meaning that no logging occurs and the
primary objective for these lands is to preserve and protect their
ecological functions and integrity, with human recreational use a
secondary goal. The remaining acreage is "trust lands," managed by DNR
on behalf of the "trust beneficiaries" (schools, universities, King
County, etc.) to produce income primarily through timber harvests, but
also from TV and radio towers located on Tiger.
Tiger Mountain State Forest was created with IATC support as an
"experimental working forest in an urban environment." The goal was,
and still remains, to prove that forestlands CAN be productively
managed for multiple public benefits (recreation, wildlife and fish
habitat, scenic values, water and air quality, and timber production)
even on the fringe of the most dense urban area in Washington state.
With DNR's cooperation, IATC members have been involved from the
beginnings of Tiger Mountain State Forest in the planning for and
management of these public lands, its trails, timber operations, and
other issues. Many people mistakenly believe Tiger Mountain to be a
"park." It is not, rather it is a "working forest" that, under DNR's
management and IATC's watchful eye, provides an extraordinary example
of the many benefits that a "working forest" can provide.
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- Support acquisition of private holdings critical to the protection of the
Natural Resources Conservation area (NRCA) as well as the Working Forest Area.
- Carefully monitor and manage public use and activities so that they
don't negatively impact the ecological values or natural resources in
high use areas; i.e., as public use levels grow even more, ensure that
Tiger Mountain isn't "loved to death" by too many people. Support a
"no new trails" policy on Tiger; i.e., unauthorized trail building
without specific DNR approval will not be tolerated by IATC.
- Monitor plans for the proposed SE Bypass, new Sunset interchange,
and proposed Park Pointe development, and actively advocate for the
careful protection of Tiger Mountain and the Natural Resources
Conservation Area.
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