The Monroe Monitor & Valley News, Monroe, Washington, The Voice of the Sky Valley Since 1899

Friend of the Forest:
Anonymous donor pledges half million to save Heybrook

by POLLY KEARY, STAFF WRITER

With only $36,000 or so in the bank and time running out to raise about $1.3 million to save a forest vital to the landscape of the town of Index, things looked grim for the Friends of Heybrook Ridge. But then an anonymous donor gave them an astonishing gift that may get them the rest of the way.

“An anonymous donor recently pledged up to $500,000 to the cause, if his funds are matched dollar for dollar by other concerned Washingtonians, the Friends of Heybrook Ridge announced April 8f other donors match those funds, that will mean $1 million toward the price of the 133 acres of timber on Heybrook Ridge.

The town of Index was once a logging town, but now derives more income from tourism. Of the 160 residents of the town, only a few remain involved in the timber industry. They are now outnumbered by artists and outdoors enthusiasts, and both groups believe Heybrook Ridge will do more for the economy pristine than clear cut.
Artists are promoting Index as an artist’s retreat, a place to capture the spectacular scenery in peace and solitude.
And outdoor enthusiasts are promoting Index as an access point from which to enter that spectacular mountainscape.
But if Heybrook Ridge, which forms a backdrop to the town, is clearcut, it will damage the town’s scenery and its emerging new identity.

So the Friends of Heybrook Ridge, upon learning of the impending clearcut, approached the timber company that owns the rights to log and asked what, if anything, could be done. The logging company, owned by the Buse family of Lake Stevens, agreed to give the organization one year to raise the money to buy the timber outright. The year ends June 30.

“We really need response to that $500,000,” said Louise Lindgren, a former mountaineer and maker of climbing attire, now president of the Friends of Heybrook Ridge.
So far, Hans and Martha Dankers of Monroe stepped up with $10,000, and another donor gave $1,000, which was matched by Bank of America.

There is a possibility that the organization won’t have to raise the entire $1.3 million.

“They're reappraising the timber and it could go up or down,” said Lindgren. “If it’s less, we won’t have to raise so much money. If it’s more, then the timber company said they would donate the difference.”

The Friends of Heybrook Ridge also got help from another quarter last week. “We met last week with Susan Howlett, the nationwide queen of fundraising, because we needed to learn how to ask for large sums of money,” said Lindgren. “We need to know who of those people who have that kind of funds loves the environment, and who already loves Index and who comes out here to recreate.”
The help is important; the organization is still trying to raise about $750,000 in the next two months.

It is an intimidating sum, but Lindgren is optimistic.
“If one person can care that much to donate half a million dollars, surely there are others who can exhibit that they care,” she said. “We do hope people will demonstrate that personal generosity by doing what they can.”

For more information, call the Friends of Heybrook Ridge (360) 793-1534, or visit www.heybrookridge.org.

Back to main page