CHIMACUM— An 850-acre parcel that was slated for clearcutting is now protected in a partnership that includes the Jefferson Land Trust, which plans to explore its recreational and economic potential.
Chimacum Ridge, a forested area located between Center and Beaver valleys in sight of the Chimacum Crossroads, will be developed as a community forest where timber is selectively harvested and then used in local projects, according to Sarah Spaeth, Jefferson Land Trust’s director of conservation and strategic partnerships.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to protect this keystone property, but also fits into the larger landscape of preserved agriculture and salmon habitat,” Spaeth said.
“It will become a demonstration for our community as to how to develop a working forest land in a different model.”
The ridge sits between two branches of Chimacum Creek and abuts hundreds of acres of preserved farmland, which Spaeth said guarantees the area will not be developed as a commercial timber or residential site.
The property consists of seven parcels, all transferred from Rayonier Washington Timber Co. to the Trust for Public Land on March 18 for a total of $2,531,007, according to the Jefferson County Assessor’s Office.
The Trust for Public Land deeded the parcels to Ecotrust Forest Management Inc. of Portland, Ore., which is holding the land as a bridge owner for five years, allowing the Jefferson Land Trust time to determine the take-out plan and final ownership structure of the property.
The final cost of the transaction will be determined after all rights are cleared, according to Jefferson Land Trust spokeswoman Caroline Robertson.
Ecotrust Forest Management is a forestland investment management company that acquires properties on behalf of investors both for long-term ownership and for transition to permanent conservation-oriented owners such as land trusts.
The process for Chimacum Ridge is similar to that of the land trust’s recent acquisition of Tamanowas Rock, which is now protected from development.
Tamanowas Rock, located on an 82.4-acre parcel about 10 miles south of Port Townsend, is an area of spiritual significance to native people.
Spaeth said Rayonier, which transferred the land to Ecotrust until the land trust could raise the financing, had planned to clearcut the area in the next 10 years “but was willing to work with us so it could be preserved.”
Rayonier had owned the property since 2006 and had other opportunities to sell the land but chose a process that allowed conservation of this tract, according to David Nunes, president and CEO of Rayonier, in a news release.
“We are proud to partner with Jefferson Land Trust, the Trust for Public Land and Ecotrust Forest Management to conserve this iconic ridge overlooking the Chimacum Valley,” Nunes said.
“I also want to thank our foresters for their hard work and dedicated stewardship of this special property over the past decade,” he continued.
“Conserving Chimacum Ridge as a working forest is an important reminder of the long-term viability of the forest products industry and the role it plays in the economy and lifestyle of this region.”
The land is not open to the public now. It is accessible only through a 2-mile logging road that loops throughout the property.
Plans to develop the recreational aspects by adding trails are not yet solidified, although the parcel could be open to the public as soon as six months, Spaeth said.
In a community forest model, forestland is managed to provide recreational trails, timber revenue through sustainable harvest techniques that retain a standing mature forest, and the wildlife habitat and contributions to clean air and water quality that forests provide.
Chimacum Ridge is directly connected to other conservation efforts in the area.
The property filters water to 19 tributaries that feed salmon streams, including both branches of Chimacum Creek, a local focus of extensive salmon habitat restoration in which the land trust has played an active role.
The land is also adjacent to a number of Jefferson Land Trust’s working farm and forest protection projects, representing nearly 2,000 contiguous acres of preserved working farms, forests and salmon streams.
This venture also changes the orientation of the land trust, which generally begins its efforts at the bottom of a watershed and works its way up.
“This land is at the top of the watershed and also represents a metaphor for the land trust’s evolution,” Spaeth said.
“We are now working on large parcels of forest land, which has multiple benefits.”
Spaeth said it is gratifying to know that Chimacum Ridge will always be a forest and will avoid the conversion of working forests to rural sprawl-type development, which is the principal threat to a viable working forest economy.
“I think of the ridge as sleeping giant, this great, massive behemoth that anchors the Chimacum valleys,” she said.
“It inspires me to think long into the future and that at night, the giant will remain dark.
“We won’t ever see lights along that ridge top.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
