After years of efforts by the Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation and citizens of Lake Forest Park to preserve the headwaters of Brookside Creek, the Grace Cole Nature Park officially opened on October 28, 2006. This park consists of over 14 acres of wetlands, woods, and ponds.

The Park is named in honor of the late Grace Cole, formerly our State Representative; she also served for many years on the Shoreline School Board. Ms. Cole was a very well-loved figure in our community, and she firmly believed in the principles of conservation. In fact she participated in the donation of one piece of land to the City which will be part of the Park.

One of the Stewardship Foundation's primary initial goals, upon its founding in 1998, was to preserve this open space, which had been in imminent danger of development since before our incorporation. Our preservation efforts have included legal challenges to development, both in Lake Forest Park and in the Superior Court of King County; annual fundraising auctions; and writing the grant application which resulted in the first significant funding for the Cole Preserve. Perhaps most importantly, our efforts focused on helping the community - and hence City Hall - become aware of the critical importance of the wetlands on this property to the health and vitality of riparian habitat, to the salmon downstream in McAleer Creek, to flood control and water quality everywhere between the headwaters and Lake Washington, and to the community at large.

This property has been purchased by the City of LFP using a variety of funding sources, none of which involve money from the city's General Fund. Funding for the purchase came from three sources:

1. A King County Conservation Futures grant, the application for which was written by the  by the Stewardship Foundation.
2. LFP's revenues from Real Estate Excise Taxes, which can only be used for capital projects such as land acquisition.
3. Funds from the state Economic Stimulus Package (SB 6396), written by Sen. Darlene Fairley. Acquisition of both the Hill and Petrie properties would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, without Senator Fairley's efforts to secure this funding.

Thanks to all of the members and friends of the Stewardship Foundation for your help and support in this effort. It would not have happened without you.We are looking forward to working with you in restoring the Cole Nature Park to its natural state and in making it acessible and enjoyable by all residents of the City.

More information about the Cole Nature Park can be found here: