CARBONADO – Pierce County has paid $3.5 million to buy about 700 acres along the Carbon River to protect a three-mile stretch of land that includes old-growth trees and habitat for fish and wildlife.
About 500 acres lie just upstream from this town northwest of Mount Rainier, while 203 acres sit farther upstream and inside a proposed expansion area for Mount Rainier National Park.
The county bought the larger piece of land from Plum Creek Timber Co. for about $1.4 million, and paid $2.1 million for the smaller plot owned by Cascade Land Conservancy, which acquired the land in September when a private developer was in line to purchase it.
The county made the purchases in May using money from its Conservation Futures Fund. The program collects about $2.5 million a year by taking 6.26 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation paid by county property owners.
The smaller piece of land is targeted for eventual purchase by the national park. It would become part of a park expansion at the northwestern corner of its current boundary.
About three-quarters of the park expansion area consists of three large properties owned by Plum Creek and two families. The rest is held by about a dozen private owners. The park needs about $4 million to $6 million to buy all 800 acres in the expansion area.
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