Logging has begun in the Little Mountain area. The 146 acres of former SDS commercial forest, now owned by Seattle-based Twin Creeks Timber, has been used by the local community and nearby high school for decades since its initial clear cutting back in 1996.
Logging has begun in the Little Mountain area. The 146 acres of former SDS commercial forest, now owned by Seattle-based Twin Creeks Timber, has been used by the local community and nearby high school for decades since its initial clear cutting back in 1996.
Photo courtesy Dr. Rick AllenAccording to several Trout Lake residents, logging activity has begun in the Little Mountain area.
This news comes as a blow to community members who’ve sought to purchase the land or sway logging company Green Diamond from conducting a clear-cut harvest of the land.
“We have begun our operations in Trout Lake,” confirmed Jason Callihan, a spokesperson for Green Diamond.
The 146 acres of former SDS commercial forest, now owned by Seattle-based Twin Creeks Timber, has been used by the local community and nearby high school for decades since its initial clear cutting back in 1996.
In April of 2023, the Trout Lake Community Council and a group of residents organized as the Friends of Little Mountain requested a delay in this clear-cutting operation, which residents say began around April 25.
Friends of Little Mountain founder Kathy Keller Jones told Columbia Gorge News, "A Good Samaritan from the Northwest recently made an offer to buy Little Mountain but Twin Creeks/ Green Diamond rejected the offer because their assessment of the value of the harvest plus the value of the land was much higher than the offer."
Jones has written to Green Diamond manager Jon Cole on behalf of the Trout Lake Community Council asking the company to leave small trees, native bushes and deciduous trees. The group also requested that Green Diamond’s replanting efforts avoid the use of herbicides.
When Columbia Gorge News sent these requests to Callihan, he said Green Diamond’s operations follow “modern, science-based forest management techniques” as well as requirements for voluntary certification with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
“These standards may not allow for all requests to be satisfied,” Callihan said, “but we have taken community comments seriously and the management plan has been developed with those comments in mind.”
In the letter to Cole, Jones wrote, “We do appreciate your giving us the extra time to make proposals last year, even though several attempts to purchase Little Mountain did not work out for financial reasons that are now more clear.”
She added, “I am hoping that you will keep our needs in mind as you harvest.”
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