Three county-owned island conservation projects are set to receive more than $1.5 million to go toward land purchases as part of a King County conservation fund program.

On the heels of councilman Joe McDermott’s late-January visit to the island to meet with Land Trust officials and tour the island’s natural areas, the King County Council last week approved the funds for Big Beach, Island Center Forest and Maury Island Community Trails areas.

“After visiting several of these sites on Vashon Island last month, I’m well aware of how these projects will help us preserve our delicate lands for generations to come,” McDermott said in a statement. “These projects conserve our healthy environment while growing a vibrant community and improving the health and well-being of our residents.”

The council’s approval comes nearly one year after applications for a piece of the annual Conservation Future Tax (CFT) funds were submitted from organizations and governments throughout the county.

The Big Beach project, in the control of Vashon’s water basin steward, Greg Rabourn, will receive $670,000 for the purchase of roughly 15 acres of land around Neill Point, Lost Lake and Inspiration Point on Vashon’s southeast end. The purchase will include both undeveloped and developed shoreline with the intention of removing a residence and bulkheads in the preservation area.

“We’re adding properties around Neill Point and Lost Lake as we get willing landowners,” Rabourn said. “This is one of those landowners.”

Rabourn said the main goal of the project is salmon preservation through the creation of two large natural areas that encompass more than 11,000 feet of shoreline.

“Purchasing these properties allows us to preserve the habitat that remains and restore the habitat that has been damaged by those living there,” Rabourn said. “Development dramatically affects wildlife. I’m focused on (restoring) the forager fish and eel grass that are crucial to salmon recovery.”

While his main concern is the habitat for fish, he said the project is two-fold and benefits islanders as well. The area is at high-risk for landslides, and some properties have failing septic systems. By removing the homes from the unstable shoreline, the risk of large-scale death or injuries from landslides is mitigated.

The project is over halfway to its goal of preserving 11,000 feet of shoreline with about 6,000 feet of this marine shoreline currently protected, according to Rabourn.

Meanwhile, two other projects in need of funds to purchase land received money from the program. The Island Center Forest project was awarded $510,000 to go toward ongoing efforts to increase the natural area around it. David Kimmett, King County’s Natural Lands Program Project Manager, said that the funds will be used to preserve the Matsuda Farm land.

“We used it for a conservation easement so it can stay as farmland or open space forever,” Kimmett said.

In the May application to King County for the funds, Kimmett wrote that the land purchase will conserve and protect 12 farmland acres that have been owned by the Matsuda family since 1930. The easement will afford permanent protection to the property.

“(This purchase will) protect and preserve open space lands that support the headwaters of Judd Creek … and provide … trail connections to other public and private lands,” he wrote.

The Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust is currently looking for a farmer to tend to the Matsuda Farm land. The organization owns the farm, and Land Trust officials said they are fortunate to have the relationship with the county.

“We (the Land Trust) have been involved in much of the outreach, planning and negotiations around the projects,” the Land Trust’s Julie Olstad Grunwald said in an email. “We are fortunate to have a collaborative, symbiotic relationship with King County Parks and Natural Resources employees like Greg Rabourn … and David Kimmett, who care about and help conserve our island’s open spaces, forest land, watersheds and ecologically fragile areas that need protection.”

Another county-run forest project focused on expanding is Dockton Forest. Kimmett received $332,000 for purchasing land to connect the forest to Maury Island Marine Park. The project is dubbed Maury Island Community Trails, and the money was used to purchase 15 acres for use as a “green and accessible corridor,” as the application for funds reads.

The land purchase will also protect Pacific madrone forests in the area.

The funding for the three island projects is part of the county’s CFT program, which annually provides between $8 and $10 million for conservation projects around the county. Funds come from a county-wide property tax of 4 cents per $1,000 of assessed home value. The tax provides funding for open space and conservation projects under the control of county and city governments or citizen groups and organizations.

Rabourn and Kimmett applied for the funds in spring of 2015 before their applications went through a competitive process with a citizen oversight committee and were eventually chosen to receive funding. In all, this year’s CFT program funded 51 programs from Snoqualmie to Seattle to Woodinville.

“Because they come out of real estate, (the CFT has) a pretty big budget,” Kimmett said. “It has quite a history and was used to purchase some of the (Glacier) gravel pit.”

King County became the first county to enact the CFT in 1982 after realizing that open spaces and farmland were disappearing as development spread. According to the county’s CFT website, in the past 34 years, Washington governments and organizations have used funds to spare 111,000 acres of land, forests, shorelines, greenways and trails from development.