HOEDOWN 2012 will be held on Saturday, October 13.Silent Auction will be held from 4-6 p.m., music and dancing from 6-10 p.m. Admission $25, children under 12 free. Proceeds will be spent to construct trails on the ridge.
HEYBROOK RIDGE: Standing between the north and south forks of the Skykomish River is Heybrook Ridge. This ridge serves as a staircase to the towering peaks of the proposed Wild Sky Wilderness. When it was announced that over 95 acres of timber were to be harvested from the ridge, the Friends of Heybrook Ridge came together to find a way to save it. The land owners graciously agreed to put the logging on hold and give the friends time to raise money to purchase the land.
Thanks to a generous anonymous donation and the partnership of Snohomish County Parks, the ridge was saved from clearcutting and is now the county’s newest park. A true environmental success story!
The Friends continue their partnership with Heybrook Ridge and Snohomish County Parks in a support and advisory capacity, building a trail system and planning to establish an outdoor educational center. Heybrook Ridge will become a recreational destination for enjoyment and education for generations to come
OUR VISION: Friends of Heybrook Ridge support establishment of an educational and recreational forest park on Heybrook Ridge, that will serve as a “living laboratory” of natural forest growth; preserve and interpret the area’s cultural and natural history; and provide recreational and cultural tourism opportunities for the region.
OUR MISSION: Friends of Heybrook Ridge was formed to work in partnership with the Cascade Land Conservancy
and a broad range of agencies and organizations to purchase 100 acres on the ridge for establishment of the Heybrook Ridge Education and Recreation Area. The cost was $1.2 million.
The purchasing part of our mission was accomplished in 2008 and the property was transfered to Snohomish County Parks. Since then the Friends have worked in partnership with park staff to facilitate planning for a trail system. This included paying $25,000 of Friends’ funds for a boundary survey. As soon as its project schedule allows, there will be public meetings held by the Parks department to consider alternatives for the trails. We will let our supporters know as soon as these meetings are scheduled by Parks.
Our mission remains to assist County parks to create its trail system while preserving flora and fauna of the ridge in perpetuity. We also intend to develop recreational and focused learning experiences for a diverse population, and toward that end we continue to assist the University of Washington and various schools that benefit from having their classes in cultural and environmental history augmented with information gleaned from Heybrook Ridge.
