$185 million deal would preserve 100,000 acres of forest near Seattle

SEATTLE – About 100,000 acres of forest in the Cascade foothills considered vulnerable to urban sprawl will be preserved in a landmark $185 million agreement with Weyerhaeuser Co.

Evergreen Forest Trust, a nonprofit forest ownership and management concern, will purchase the land about 30 miles east of Seattle. The deal, announced Wednesday, will allow timber harvesting to continue, but protects stands of trees near rivers and steep banks.

“Evergreen Forest Trust’s ownership ensures the land will remain as a working forest and removes the pressure to convert it to development,” said trust president Gerry Johnson of the Seattle law firm of Preston Gates &Ellis.

The land, which stretches for 30 miles and covers an area nearly twice the size of Seattle, includes some of timber baron Frederick Weyerhaeuser’s first holdings, acquired in 1900. It is home to protected species such as the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet, plus a number of salmon species and other wildlife.

Sierra Club leader Charlie Raines said the deal could be the biggest nongovernment land conservation pact in state history. Some agreements in the Northeast have involved more land, but less money, including a $50 million purchase on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts last summer by The Nature Conservancy.

Zoning already bars new lots smaller than 80 acres in the area, but backers of the deal say there’s a market for larger estates and acquisition is the only sure way to prevent development.

“Zoning isn’t permanent,” said County Council member Rob McKenna, a member of the trust board.

A conservation easement held by the Cascade Land Conservancy will preserve the most sensitive areas, roughly 20,000 acres, and provide additional protection for the whole parcel. Trees also would remain on 10,000 acres of buffer areas along streams.

Timber production would be managed by the Campbell Group of Portland, Ore., a forestry company that currently controls about 500,000 acres in western Washington.

The deal is expected to close by midsummer. The trust, created by business, political and environmental leaders, plans to finance the purchase by selling a type of tax-exempt bond.

“We are pleased that this special land will continue to be managed as forest land,” said Richard Hanson, Weyerhaeuser’s senior vice president of timberlands.

After the deal, Weyerhaeuser will still own 1.4 million acres of Washington state commercial timber land; it manages more than 30 million acres in North America. Weyerhaeuser halted logging in the area and laid off 60 workers Wednesday.

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