Conservation via capitalism: Two men's novel idea could forever alter land protection.(The Seattle Times)

SNOQUALMIE, Wash. _ One is a money man, an optimist and investment banker who had a brainstorm while toiling in bond markets.

The other is a forestry wonk, a worrier and behind-the-scenes operator who refereed loggers and environmentalists through the Northwest timber wars.

For a half-decade, this idiosyncratic duo spent money they didn't have to feed an ambition: revamp the way sprawl-weary communities save land.

Now, Joe Euphrat and Tom Tuchmann are on the verge of completing the most provocative land deal in Northwest history. They hope to save 104,000 East King County acres from subdivisions by cutting down most of the trees.

The transaction could change the way property is preserved across the country.

And it could help make these pioneers wealthy.

It has been only two months since negotiators announced that a nonprofit would buy Weyerhaeuser's Snoqualmie Tree Farm for $185 million, forever halting development battles on an area of the Cascade foothills one-third the size of Los Angeles. The land is rich with rivers, trails and wildlife and acts as a scenic buffer for Eastside homeowners who year by year have inched closer to the great outdoors.