Once again, Mother Nature finds some of her closest friends in this region to be the dedicated staff and more than 1,500 members of the Columbia Land Trust. For two decades the Vancouver-based nonprofit has worked with property owners, governments and other groups to conserve about 10,000 acres of scenic land and critical habitat in Washington and Oregon.
Of course, conservation without clout is only a dream, and it has been the tenacity and expertise of the Columbia Land Trust officials that have enabled the group to accumulate an impressive record of achievements. The land trust’s greatest triumph to date was recorded on Monday when it received a $6 million grant from the U.S. Interior Secretary to buy 3,000 acres of forest on the southern slopes of Mount St. Helens in Skamania County. The full measure of this milestone is realized when comparisons are made. Of the grants in Washington state announced by U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the Columbia Land Trust’s award was the largest by more than $1 million.
Congratulations to the land trust staffers, who worked in conjunction with the state Department of Natural Resources. DNR on Tuesday announced another victory, a $1.2 million grant from the Interior Department that allows acquisition of an important “inholding” (an island of private property surrounded by public property). This transaction in eastern King County will complete the unbroken expanse of the Mount Si Natural Resources Conservation Area. And that will allow expanded environmental education programs and low-impact public uses such as hiking. “Everyone who treasures the outdoors will benefit from this unbroken landscape,” Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark said Tuesday.
In Southwest Washington, the land trust’s grant will provide extensive improvements of habitat for bull trout and northern spotted owls. That’s the goal of the federal grants, to benefit threatened and endangered species. As Salazar noted in a statement, the grants “provide the means for states to develop the long-term partnerships with landowners and communities necessary to conserve habitat and foster stewardship that will bring species back from the threat of extinction.” As Erik Robinson reported in Tuesday’s Columbian, the partnership struck by the Columbia Land Trust has been with Pope Resources, which owns 20,000 acres of commercial timber land in the area south of the volcano. And the biggest beneficiaries likely will be bull trout, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. These fish need cold, clear creeks for spawning, and the forest land near Pine Creek is targeted by the land trust for conservation.
