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RIDGE records, 1923-2021

Overview of the Collection

Creator
RIDGE (Organization)
Title
RIDGE records
Dates
1923-2021 (inclusive)
1987-2021 (bulk)
Quantity
14.78 cubic feet (14 boxes, including 44 CDs, 1 DVD, and 8 videocassettes; and 2 oversize folders, and 4 tubes)
Collection Number
6295
Summary
Records of RIDGE, a Roslyn-based community organization focused on environmental and land use activism in Upper Kittitas County, Washington
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access for paper-based materials.

Analog and digital media is closed until processed.

Request at UW

Languages
English
Sponsor
Full processing supported by the Labor Archives Fund and the Labor Archives of Washington State Budget
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Historical Note

RIDGE was a community organization in Roslyn, Washington formed in 1988. Ellie Belew and Douglas Kilgore were leaders of the organization, which engaged in activism around forestry and land use issues during the late 1980s and into the early 2010s. RIDGE partnered with labor groups-- especially the building trades unions-- in a long fight to block the development of what is now the Suncadia Resort, the first Master Planned Resort in Washington State. Master Planned Resort [MPR] is a type of zoning distinction defined by the Washington State Growth Management [GMA] Act. MPRs are self-contained and fully integrated planned unit developments, in a setting of significant natural amenities, with primary focus on destination resort facilities consisting of short-term visitor accommodations associated with a range of developed on-site indoor or outdoor recreational facilities. The plan allows urban development outside of urban areas and connection to municipal wastewater connections but requires the MPR to be separated from surrounding communities.

RIDGE used a variety of tactics to attempt to block Suncadia’s development including: litigation, land use mapping, water rights, community meetings, and zoning changes. Later, RIDGE engaged with Futurewise to litigate and organize for reforms to the Kittitas County Comprehensive Plan. RIDGE dissolved in 2014.

RIDGE members warned of the negative environmental and economic effects typical of the boom and bust cycles of logging on local economies. The boom and bust cycle of a town dominated by a major extractive industry was a familiar cycle in Roslyn, founded in 1886 as a mining company town initiated and platted by the Northern Pacific Coal Company, a subsidiary of the Northern Pacific Railway. The last mine closed in Roslyn in 1963, and the bust contributed to an economic downturn and population decline. After the loss of mining jobs, the town’s demographics were largely composed of retired mining families and older white people who moved to Roslyn to complete tree-planting contracts.

RIDGE’s connection to labor organizing is unique among other environmental groups of the time. RIDGE challenged the notion that extractive economy workers and environmentalists have competing interests, and instead sought to harmonize the need for a sustainable forest economy among workers and those concerned with the environment. RIDGE joined a coalition with the building trades unions after Suncadia expressed interest in bringing in open shop contractors to build the resort and that they had no intention of utilizing a responsible contract. Once it was evident Suncadia was going to be built despite efforts to block the development, the coalition fought for and obtained a pledge for employing union workers in its construction. The organization’s leaders also have strong ties with the labor movement. Doug Kilgore is connected to the labor movement in Washington State, and Ellie Belew has researched and authored several books in collaboration with labor unions and labor activists.

Timeline of RIDGE’s History:

  • Spring 1988: Cle Elum Chamber of Commerce hosts community meetings about the future of Upper Kittitas County, and land use and sustainable forestry emerge as a community concern
  • Summer 1988: RIDGE founded by school teachers Doug Johnson and Susan Willis Johnson with a goal to build a sustainable forest economy and ecosystem
  • Fall 1988: RIDGE learns Plum Creek Timber Company plans to log approximately 15,000 acres of timber near Roslyn, Washington
  • Winter 1988: Doug Kilgore and Ellie Belew join RIDGE
  • February 1989: RIDGE presents concerns about overcutting in the Yakima Basin to the Forest Practices Board [FPB]
  • October 1989: RIDGE facilitates first state-wide coalition meeting to discuss overcutting on private forest lands
  • 1988-1989: RIDGE hosts community meetings, gathers signatures to oppose Plum Creek’s logging plans
  • 1989-1990: RIDGE participates in Sustainable Forestry Roundtable [SFR] and SFR subcommittees
  • Fall 1990: RIDGE formally appeals logging plans in L.T. Murray Recreation Area and focuses on documenting side-by-side land parcels in L.T. Murray and how the cumulative effects of logging are not accounted for in Forest Practices Applications
  • Fall 1990: SFR does not reach consensus for proposing legislative package to Washington State Legislature
  • 1990: Growth Management Act [GMA] passes in Washington State Legislature, Kittitas County adopts GMA
  • Early 1990s: Previously logged land parcels in Upper Kittitas County are proposed for development. RIDGE expands focus to include broader land use focus and uses GMA and other planning regulations to advocate for zoning designations of resource lands of long-term commercial significance
  • 1992: Appeals process for L.T. Murray Recreation Area ends, and the area changes from private logging to public management
  • 1992-1995: RIDGE appeals Plum Creek Timber Company’s application for Washington State’s first Master Planned Resort [MPR]
  • April 3 1995: 14,000 acres of forest land in Upper Kittitas County are declared resource lands of long-term commercial significance by Growth Management Hearings Board for Eastern Washington
  • 1996: Plum Creek Timber Company sells 7,600 acres of land to Trendwest Resorts for development of MPR
  • Mid-to-late 1990s: RIDGE rallies community members to identify potential impacts to human and natural communities if MPR is developed
  • April - September 2001: RIDGE and Trendwest (now Suncadia) engage in litigation to mitigate effects of MPR on surrounding communities and agree upon Settlement Agreement for MPR
  • 2001 - 2008: RIDGE enforces and monitors Settlement Agreement. Four amendments added to agreement and Suncadia attempts to dissolve agreement through legal processes
  • 2009: Several RIDGE board members form a new community group called R-Town
  • December 8 2009: RIDGE and Suncadia go to court over enforcement of the Settlement Agreement’s terms
  • July 15, 2013: Kittitas County Judge Scott R. Sparks terminates the Settlement Agreement and all remaining claims
  • August 5, 2013: RIDGE announces no further plans to pursue an appeal
  • 2014: RIDGE dissolves

Source: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/roslyn-washington/

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20170314072214/http://www.roslynridge.org/history.php

Source: https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=36.70a.360

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Content Description

This collection contains the organizational records of RIDGE. Records include litigation files and other assorted materials regarding the development of the Suncadia Resort; lawsuit materials; RIDGE office files; RIDGE promotional materials, including newsletters and flyers; correspondence; oversize land use maps; photographs; news clippings and media coverage; contract drafts and contract negotiation notes; and several videocassettes. The records are mostly paper-based, but also include a large number of CDs containing additional digital files. Also includes administrative records of RIDGE relating to the management of the Roslyn Urban Forest by the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC), a multi-organization collaboration meant to integrate conservation plans.

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Other Descriptive Information

Forms part of the Labor Archives of Washington.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, RIDGE Records, 6295-001, [box number], [folder number]

Restrictions on Use

To the extent that they own the copyright, the donor has transferred the copyright of the materials to the University of Washington; however, copyright in some items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. Users are responsible for researching copyright status before use.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Organized into 2 accessions.

  • Accession No. 6295-001, RIDGE records, 1923-2015
  • Accession No. 6295-002, RIDGE records, 1989-2021

Related Materials

Web crawls of RIDGE’s former website, roslynridge.org , can be found on the Wayback Machine’s internet archive.

Processing Note

Abbey Maynard described and intellectually arranged this collection into series and subseries in September 2020 using existing inventory as a guide. Funding for Abbey’s internship was provided by Northwest Archivist’s Archivist-in-Residence program. JoAnn Keenan physically rehoused and inventoried the collection in September 2019.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Conservation of natural resources--Washington (State)
  • Environmentalism--Washington (State)
  • Forest conservation--Washington (State)
  • Labor movement--Washington (State)
  • Labor unions--Washington (State)
  • Labor--Washington (State)
  • Land use--Washington (State)
  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Belew, Ellie
  • Johnson, Douglas A.. 1948-
  • Johnson, Susan Willis
  • Kilgore, Douglas H

Corporate Names

  • RIDGE (Organization)--Archives
  • RIDGE (Organization)--Press coverage
  • Suncadia (Resort)--History--Sources

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names

    • Labor Archives of Washington (University of Washington) (curator)


2019 (Last modified: 5/30/2024)

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