Help Our Woods in Bothell: A Promise Fulfilled
Over a year ago during a Bothell City Council meeting, the Council members engaged in a lively discussion about the value of the parcels known as The Boy Scout Property on the side of Maywood Hill in Bothell. The steep, wet acreage became a point of discussion thanks to the efforts of a local advocacy group known as HOW, Help Our Woods. For over a decade, HOW has fought development of the 63.8 acres consisting of six parcels, and encouraged the city and community to save the forest for future generations and the wildlife living there.
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Pictured, left to right are: Pat Ewing — Bothell City Council, Dawn McCravey — Northshore School Board, Mark Lamb — Mayor City of Bothell, Sandi Clement — President and founder of Help Our Woods |
The woods provide multiple benefits to the environment through air and water quality, ensure habitat for animals squeezed by development and give residents and visitors a beautiful Bothell.
Bothell’s City Council strives for fiscal responsibility to their taxpayers. Therefore, the lively discussion going on over a year ago was about the use of taxpayer funds to match grants provided by the County or state. The council felt torn by a desire to preserve and protect a valuable Bothell asset and the need to use increasingly limited funding wisely and representative of it’s citizens.
In an inspired moment, Mayor Mark Lamb stated that if all the 600+ petition signers would follow his lead in donating, this debate would resolve itself. Council member Patrick Ewing was quick to embrace this challenge. Northshore School Board member Dawn McCravey pledged to match Pat Ewing’s donation at the break when an appropriate time for public comment occurred.
Our local representatives on the Bothell City Council and Northshore School Board deserve a hand for their unwavering dedication to a better Bothell.
In the past year, HOW, Help Our Woods has received 501C3 status so matching funds could be donated by our community and the pledges made that night could be optimized. This status allows donations to be tax deductible and many companies will match the donation to HOW. The funds are dedicated to saving the forest and preserving habitat there. HOW echoes the sentiment of our City Council to provide funding through community outreach and donations.
Help Our Woods recently partnered with the City of Bothell once again to apply for another King County Conservation Futures Fund grant. It has been successfully completed and filed, so the hard work of collecting matching funds begins. HOW needs your donations to help make this dream a reality. It is our pledge to dedicate ALL collected funds to the purchase and revitalization of the forest. Help Our Woods is a non-profit organization that exists solely for this purpose. We are the only non-profit 501C3 organization able to collect donations for saving these woods.
Please send your tax-deductible donations to:
Help Our Woods
19803 108th Ave NE
Bothell, WA 98011
If your company has a matching funds program on employee donations, HOW qualifies for those programs. Learn more about us at: