Nisqually Community Forest doubles in size after $9.6 million land purchase
The Nisqually Community Forest will add 2,200 acres of land purchased for $9.6 million, effectively doubling the protected forest’s size.
The Nisqually Indian Tribe and Nisqually Land Trust partnered to protect the land located west of Gifford Pinchot National Forest and north of the Nisqually Community Forest, according to a land trust news release.
“The Nisqually Tribe has always been our primary partner,” said land trust executive director Jeanette Dorner in the release. “But this project brings that partnership to a new level, and one that we couldn’t be more proud of.”
The Tribe purchased 1,240 acres on the west side of the parcel while the land trust contributed 960 acres on the east side, per the release. This is the largest transaction the land trust has undertaken since its founding 32 years ago and the first purchase of industrial timberlands by the tribe.
“It’s really a repatriation of lands historically used by the Nisqually people,” said David Troutt, director of the tribe’s Natural Resources Department, in the release. “And we see this as just a beginning.”
The two purchases include over three miles of critical salmon habitat along Busy Wild Creek, according to the release. The creek forms the headwaters of the Mashel River, which is the primary tributary to the Nisqually River.
Nisqually Chinook salmon and steelhead trout are both found in the creek, according to the release. Both fish are considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Joe Kane, Nisqually Community Forest general manager, coordinated the project that resulted in the two simultaneous purchases.
“Steelhead have taught us that we have to think big,” Kane said. “They need big landscapes. They go high and they go far. They’re telling us that we have to be creative.”
The land acquisition also secures most of the Mount Tahoma Trails Association’s hut-to-hut cross-country ski trail, the release says.
“That trail is used by over 5,000 people every year,” Kane said. “It provides high-quality public recreation and it’s a local economic driver.”
While managing the forest, Kane said in the release he has relied on local logging crews and mills. He said this is necessary to improve habitat values.
“Supporting local jobs is essential to keeping the ‘community’ in ‘Community Forest,’” Kane said.
New Washington state conservation programs allowed the tribe and land trust to complete this purchase, according to the release.
For its part, the tribe used a low-interest loan from the Department of Ecology’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Meanwhile, the non-profit land trust made use of a grant they received from the state’s Streamflow Restoration program.
The tribe and the land trust also financed their purchases with a joint grant from the Recreation and Conservation Office’s Community Forest Program.
This story was originally published May 19, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
