Mt. Adams Community Forest expands

With the addition, the Mt. Adams Community Forest totals just over 1,800 acres of forest in northwestern Klickitat County. MARS completed its first community forest purchase in 2011 and the latest purchase of land, referred to by the organization as the South Conboy Tract, represents its sixth transaction.

“We are really excited about this purchase and really appreciate Weyerhaeuser’s patience in working through our timeframe necessary to raise funds and get the deal to the finish line”, said McLaughlin. “Our greatest concern was that these lands could have been sold for private recreational and residential development in an area where those uses would have conflicted with historic and neighboring land uses. This is productive forest land and wildlife benefit greatly from the undeveloped character of this property immediately adjacent to a national wildlife refuge.”

In recent years, these lands had been part of a leased access and hunting program, and MARS has already reestablished public access to the property.

“We are looking forward to sitting down with the community and digging into management options for the property, true to community forest management principles,” said McLaughlin.

Recreation is one area he identified that they want to explore more deeply, as multiple use management is central to the Mt. Adams Community Forest vision.

The acquisition was supported by grants from the US Forest Service and Washington Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) Community Forest Programs, as well as a “substantial” loan that MARS is actively raising funds to pay down, McLaughlin said.

For more information, contact McLaughlin at jay@mtadamsstewards.org.