Editorial: Little park at Martha Lake an example of success

By The Herald Editorial Board

Martha Lake Park, a Snohomish County Park sandwiched between the suburban lake’s south shore and a bustling 164th Street SW, is one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it parks scattered among the region’s cities and unincorporated areas; small and tucked away, but providing an oasis of green and blue, a place for kids to play and adults to spread out a blanket and relax.

But the park — situated between Lynnwood and Mill Creek — might not have been. More than 30 years ago, the owners of the Martha Lake Resort looked to redevelop the property as a business park or condos, potentially surrendering the six acres of trees and lakeshore to the private development that now nearly encircles the lake.

That wasn’t its fate, however; at the urging of community groups, Snohomish County Parks and Recreation took advantage of a newly created program that secured $1 million in state funding in 1992, matching a $1.65 million investment by the county to acquire the property and create the park. More funding from the same program followed in 1996 for a fishing dock project and other improvements.

Now, more than 30 years later, that same program will again help fund improvements at the park, including the replacement of one of two playgrounds that was removed in September over safety concerns. The $1.28 million project, joining a $557,000 contribution from the county, is set to receive about $681,000 through the state’s Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program with expected approval of the state’s capital budget by the Legislature.

“So many years later, and Martha Lake can still count on the WWRP for its investments to keep the park up to date,” said Yvonne Kraus, executive director for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition, the nonprofit organization that, separate from the state program but assisting it, advocates for funding of local and state parks, wildlife habitat and preservation of working farms and forest lands.

The Martha Lake grant is one of three projects in Snohomish County receiving a total of $2.5 million in funding through the program, including $500,000 for improvements at Mountlake Terrace’s Veterans Memorial Park and various projects at state parks in the county.

The investments in the county aren’t unique, as every county — in fact, every legislative district — is allocated grant funding for parks, recreation, trails, habitat and more through the program run by the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office. Both House and Senate in their separate capital budgets this session — totaling $7.6 billion and $7.3 billion respectively, for the state’s infrastructure and building needs — have each included $120 million for the WWRP in the 2025-27 budget.

That level of investment, Kraus said, is notable, especially during a challenging budget year for the Legislature, maintaining the support provided in the previous capital budget and bipartisan acknowledgement of the importance of the projects.

As part of its advocacy work, the coalition works with land trusts, recreation and conservation groups and community associations to assemble a list of projects for funding consideration.

A rigorous vetting and ranking process evaluates the grant applications, providing a list to legislators as they consider the capital budget, said Vanessa Kritzer, executive director for the Washington Association of Land Trusts, a partner with the wildlife and recreation coalition.

“It ensures that we put public dollars toward the most impactful projects to protect our habitat, or to be able to ensure access to recreational space, or to be able to protect our working lands,” Kritzer said.

Often, Kritzer said, projects satisfy more than one goal, noting a past project by Snohomish County to restore more than 300 acres of Snohomish River estuary. The project’s main intention was preservation of salmon habitat, but it also benefited bird and wildlife watchers, walkers and boaters.

“One of the exciting things for our communities is we make one investment, but we get multiple benefits out of it,” she said.

This year $150 million in projects were included on the coalition’s list, meaning that some worthy projects didn’t make the cut this year, including one at Eagle Ridge Park in Lake Stevens, which would have helped with development of a nature-themed playground, amphitheater and outdoor classroom space.

“We have some unfunded projects every year, and hopefully they come back for the next round and we’ll be able to then get the funding secured,” Kraus said.

Still, the program, since its inception in 1990, has provided more than $2 billion in funding for more than 1,700 projects across the state, including local and state parks, trails, water access, riparian projection, preservation of critical habitat, natural areas and urban wildlife habitat and preservation of working farmland and forestland.

In Snohomish and Island counties, the program since 1992 has provided total state funding of more than $138 million, which has leveraged another $168 million in funding from local, federal and private donations; supporting scores of projects, including improvements at the state parks at Fort Casey, Cama Beach and Deception Pass; farmland preservation at Ebey’s Reserve; the Centennial Trail; Lord Hill Regional Park; Jennings Park and Strawberry Fields in Marysville; Bracketts’ Landing and Hickman Park in Edmonds; Sultan’s Sky Valley Sports Complex and Osprey Park; Mukilteo’s Lighthouse Park; Lynnwood’s Stadler Ridge Park and Daleway Park aquatic playground; Everett’s Glacier View and Emma Yule parks and many others.

That history of past success, the more than 100 projects identified for funding in this year’s budget and what remains to be funded in future years speak to the importance of a program that assures funding of wildlife and recreation investments in the state. That’s especially important during a period of uncertainty for similar support and investment from the federal government.

“Washington has been experiencing unprecedented growth, and those pressures of growth make this program very important,” Kritzer said. “When we’re looking at preservation of farmland, forest land, these places where we want to get outside, it’s why we also need to make sure we have these investments. Because if we lose these important natural spaces, we won’t get them back.”