Trust buys chum salmon habitat on lower Columbia

VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Columbia Land Trust has acquired 305 acres of important chum salmon spawning habitat in the lower Columbia River.

The Vancouver, Wash.-based trust said Monday it bought the land at the confluence of the Grays River and Crazy Johnson Creek in Wahkiakum County for $968,000 from Hancock Timber Resource Group. The money includes $408,000 from the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board, $362,000 from the Bonneville Power Administration and $198,000 from the U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service.

Wild chum salmon have been listed as a threatened species since 1999.

Also Monday, the Nisqually Land Trust acquired 720 acres near the entrance to Mount Rainier National Park from Hancock Timber. The land will provide critical habitat in the Kapowsin Forest for spotted owls, marbled murrelets, elk and other wildlife.