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FORT&RRA <br />July 5, 2018 <br />Kittitas County <br />Board of Commissioners <br />205 W 5th AVE STE 108 <br />Ellensburg WA 98926-2887 <br />RE: Conservation Easement on Hairpin Ranch <br />Dear Commissioners Osiadacz, O'Brien and Jewell: <br />Thank you for working with Forterra in planning to cooperatively hold and <br />steward a conservation easement on Hairpin Ranch (owned by Brent and Mary <br />Minor). This conservation easement would permanently protect as ranch and <br />agricultural land nearly 30o acres just outside Ellensburg. We appreciate both <br />your previously signing the attached letter of support dated April 12, 2018, and <br />your votes at the June 11, 2018 Study Session approving the County's signing <br />onto as a grantee and co -holding the conservation easement (subject to the <br />County's review and approval of final easement terms). For your reference, I <br />have also attached a letter of intent to sell acknowledged by Brent and Mary <br />Minor. <br />As I noted at the Study Session, the County would play essentially the same role <br />as it currently does on Triple Creek Ranch: performing annual monitoring of the <br />easement property in consultation with Forterra and serving as a co -enforcer <br />(along with Forterra, the state Recreation and Conservation Office, and the <br />federal Natural Resource Conservation Service) in the event enforcement proves <br />necessary. However, unlike for Triple Creek Ranch, Forterra — not the County — <br />is serving as the eligible sponsor/lead entity for both the state and federal <br />easement grants for Hairpin Ranch. I also want to confirm via this letter that <br />Forterra is not asking the County to contribute any funds to the acquisition of the <br />easement. State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) and federal Natural <br />Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) funds and potentially a small landowner <br />donation will comprise the funding needed to acquire the easement. <br />In order to serve as a co-grantee/co-holder of the conservation easement and for <br />Forterra to submit a complete NRCS grant application by July 18, 2018, the <br />County must sign the attached Entity Application for an Agricultural Land <br />Easement (ALE) Agreement, at page 2, Section 7. Again, Forterra is serving as <br />the lead entity for the NRCS grant. While the County may need to sign an <br />