Pacific County will receive $1 million as reimbursement for its transfer of more than 60 acres of land to state conservation status, the state Board of Natural Resources announced Tuesday.
The money comes from the State Forest Land Replacement program, which compensates small, timber-dependent counties for forest lands managed for the protection of federally endangered species. In the case of Pacific County, 63.4 acres of marbled murrelet habitat will be added to the Naselle Highlands Natural Resources Conservation Area.
A total of $3.2 million was approved for Pacific, Skamania and Wahkiakum counties. Skamania will receive $1.7 million for 203.4 acres of spotted owl habitat to be added to the Stevenson Ridge NRCA. Wahkiakum was reimbursed $928,000 for 175.3 acres of marbled murrelet habitat to be added to the Skamokawa Creek NRCA.
“These transfers will help fund vital public services for these three counties while protecting endangered species habitat,” said Peter Goldmark, Commissioner of Public Lands, who chairs the Board of Natural Resources.
All told, the three counties transferred 442 acres of state-owned forestland to conservation status, which means the timber on that land cannot be harvested. Reimbursement is based on the appraised value of standing timber on the parcels transferred into conservation status. The value of the land itself, $663,000, “will be used to purchase working forestland that the Department of Natural Resources will manage to support services in the three counties.”
DNR plans to request $6 million to fund the State Forest Land Replacement Program in the 2017-19 state budget biennium. The Legislature created the program in 2009 to help relieve the disproportionate impact of endangered species-related restrictions on small timber-dependent counties. The program allows DNR to acquire revenue-generating forest lands to manage on behalf of the affected counties while conserving habitat for endangered species.
The Board of Natural Resources adopts policies, approves major commodity sales and makes decisions about transactions of state lands managed by DNR. Its membership represents the major beneficiaries of state trust lands, including public schools, universities and prisons as well as 21 counties that use trust land revenues to support hospitals, libraries and other services. Since 1972, DNR-managed state trust lands have provided nearly $8 billion in non-tax revenue to beneficiaries.
