The Brief
- King County is suing property owners and real estate agents for allegedly cutting down over 140 trees in Grand Ridge Park to improve home views, causing substantial harm to the protected forest.
- The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction, treble damages exceeding $2.3 million, and penalties for violating critical area protections, with claims that restoration could take generations.
- A jury trial is requested, but no criminal charges have been filed, and attorneys for the homeowners have not commented.
KING COUNTY, Wash. – King County officials are suing several property owners and real estate agents, accusing them of illegally cutting down more than 140 trees in a protected area of Grand Ridge Park to allegedly improve views from their homes.
In a civil complaint filed June 6 in King County Superior Court, prosecutors say the damage was “unauthorized” and caused “substantial and potentially irreversible harm” to the public forest, which sits on environmentally sensitive land near Issaquah.
According to the complaint, at least 142 trees were damaged on the county-owned property, including Douglas fir, Western red cedar, Sitka spruce, grand fir, and bigleaf maple. The damage allegedly included topping, cutting, debarking, and “limbing up”—a method that weakens a tree’s integrity and exposes it to disease.…