The effort concluded with the transfer of the land from Plum Creek to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The coalition, led by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, The Nature Conservancy and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, completed the Heart of the Cascades project in phases.
The final phase, which closed Thursday, involved 7,711 acres of Plum Creek lands situated in a “checkerboard” pattern within the Wenatchee National Forest. The elk foundation worked with the timber company to transfer 3,904 acres, while the conservancy transferred another 3,807 acres to the state department.
In 2009, during the project’s first phase, the conservancy and foundation worked together to acquire and transfer 2,675 acres to WDFW.
All of the lands are now part of the department’s 47,200-acre Oak Creek Wildlife Management Area. The land is also part of a larger landscape, the Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative, where the agency, U.S. Forest Service, the conservancy, elk foundation, state Department of Natural Resources, the Yakama Nation and other public land managers are working together to restore forest health.
“This was a very complex project – I don’t think any of the partners could have accomplished this alone,” David Allen, foundation president and CEO, said in a prepared statement. “Together, we helped ‘block up’ public land in larger contiguous holdings and protect habitat for elk and other big game, from low elevation winter ranges all the way up to high-country summer ranges. And what’s good for big game is also good for big-game hunters.”
“By bringing this area into public ownership, we’ll be able to work together to maintain a healthy forest environment, to lower the danger of catastrophic wildfire and ensure that people can continue to hike and camp and hunt here, supporting the local economy” Karen Anderson, Washington director for The Nature Conservancy, said in the statement.
Funds used by the fish and wildlife agency came from the state Wildlife and Recreation Program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via a Habitat Conservation Plan grant.
“This project was a high priority for the state because it provides critical habitat both for protected species and game animals,” Jeff Tayer, the agency’s regional director in Yakima, said in a news release.
Ranging from 2,500 to 6,000 feet in elevation, the Rock Creek/Bald Mountain area hosts a variety of wildlife with more than 100 species of birds, including several rare species.
Piecemeal purchases by small timber operations or rural residential developers could have compromised wildlife values as well as public access. From the outset, Plum Creek felt the lands were best suited as wildlife and recreation lands, and allowed the coalition of project partners time to assemble the needed funding to complete a deal, the release said.
