Survey Leaves Landowners Near Arlington In Legal Limbo

ARLINGTON - Peace in a scenic, forested area southeast of Arlington is erupting into a growing border dispute rooted in government measurements taken 10 years before Washington became a state.

The remote, 36-square-mile area of public and private timberlands as well as homeowners who value their privacy is being disrupted by a $230,000 state survey begun five years ago. The survey will help the state Department of Natural Resources define exact property lines for the 8,000 acres of timberland it manages in an area nestled between Arlington and Granite Falls, northeast of the Stillaguamish River.

The problem is this: After trying to find government markers and match the field notes of an 1879 survey with geographic references, the state concluded the Government Land Office surveyor did not actually take the measurements. "It appears to be a fraudulent survey," said John Osborn, assistant Northwest regional manager for the DNR.

Because of some discrepancies found in the new survey, some property owners could lose land, while others may gain land. On one two-mile-long stretch, the new survey concluded, property lines are off between 200 and 700 feet.

Landowners in the area believe the markings that have been followed for the past 80 years should be binding. Bill Lloyd, who heads the surveying department for Cascade Survey, an Arlington company that has done many of the surveys in the area, said he would stick with the historical markings. But he doesn't plan more surveys in the area until the dispute is settled.

"The DNR set boundaries all of us agreed upon; leave it alone," said Jerry Firnstahl, who owns a 280-acre tree farm. "According to custom, this is what the people are satisfied with. Let custom rule the day."

With the new survey a few months from completion, about 400 property owners are getting anxious.

"I thought my life was pretty simple until all this came along," said Warren Steffes, 28, who owns 25 acres divided into five equal parcels, two of them bordering state land. "This is beyond my understanding."

Steve Sprague, co-owner and managing partner of the 2,000-acre Jim Creek Properties tree farm, is organizing property owners to support the historical markings. The group has had two community meetings, the first attracting 100 landowners, the second twice that many.

Jim Creek Properties could lose 120 acres to the state, worth about $250,000, including an area already harvested for which the state would expect to be reimbursed for the timber. For some others, a change could shift land, with some property owners losing a parcel in one place and picking up an equal amount from another adjacent owner.

Though neither the state nor property owners want to end up in court, the dispute appears to be headed that way. Sprague said Jim Creek planned to log 12 acres this year. Instead, it logged twice that much land to cover the cost of expected legal expenses.

Serious Israel, an elder of the Love Israel Family, a religious commune that owns land in the area, hopes negotiations or arbitration can settle the dispute.

"We always like to resolve these things without going to court," Osborn said. `"e're exploring some things, but we don't know how much room we have for negotiations. We can't give away state land."

Boundary changes would have an impact on the Love Israel Family's 290 acres. The new line being proposed could remove a lake and access to it and interrupt a loop road ringing the property, Israel said.

The new survey creates a conflict not only between the landowners and the state but also among private-property owners. Israel said a new line also could affect the division between Love Israel Family land and land owned by the Scott Paper Co.

The state land initially was in private ownership, lost to the county for taxes during the Depression. Lawmakers then turned it over to the state to manage, with timber proceeds to go to Snohomish County.

Sixty years ago, the state planted trees on the virtually bare land. Before harvesting the timber, Osborn said, it is critical to establish exact boundaries. That's when the historical markings came into question.

Until the dispute is settled, some economic activity also could grind to a halt, including real-estate transfers and bank loans.

"I'm afraid to transfer property to anyone because I don't know the boundaries," said Cynthia Geddis, an Arlington real-estate agent.

Geddis, who bought property in the area as an investment and then had to hold onto it because of the boundary questions, is avoiding real-estate deals in the area. "I've stayed away from it like it was the plague."