To the Editor: LFP rewriting tree ordinance

You may be aware that LFP has been in the process of rewriting our Tree Ordinance. The Council was concerned that Lake Forest Park may be losing its trees and forests. The effort to review and rewrite our Tree Ordinance first started in February of 2006 and the original proposal was submitted to the Council in late fall 2008. The Council had some inherent difficulties with proposal which led to the Council appointing me to lead the Task Force (Urban Forest Task Forest - UFTF) in a new effort.

The UFTF changed the approach from rewriting an existing ordinance to save one tree at a time (one to one replacement) to developing the larger perspective of a "Community Forest Management Plan".

There are 3 elements to this plan; "Introduction", "Goals and Policies" and "The LFP Community Forest Management Plan". The "Introduction and the "Goals and Policies" were presented to and accepted by the Council in its September 10th Council meeting. The CFMP should meet the elements of the "Evergreen Communities Act" which was introduced to our State Legislature by Representative Ruth Kagi. The ECA was enacted in 2008.

The UFTF presented the draft "Lake Forest Park Community Forest Management Plan" to the Council at its December 10 Council Study Session. The three elements of the CFMP will be the basis from which the new "Tree Protection and Replacement Ordinance" will be constructed. Next week the UFTF and Lake Forest Park City Staff will begin the ordinance writing process. It is the goal of the LFP City Council to complete this process and have the new ordinance in place by the end of June 2010.

Thanks and best wishes for the success of Shoreline Area News in 2010 and beyond.

Don Fiene
Lake Forest Park