FORKS — The Nature Conservancy has bought 3,184 acres of Rayonier timberlands in the Hoh River drainage for $7 million as part of a broad forest-restoration effort on the Olympic Peninsula.
The land sale, which closed Monday, will help in the creation of a 32-mile conservation corridor extending along the Hoh River from Olympic National Park to the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
Plans for the land also include some long-term rotation timber harvests, the conservancy said.
It said the land purchase will build on efforts already underway by the Hoh River Trust, which owns 6,800 acres along the Hoh River, to create the forested conservation corridor “from the mountains to the sea.”
“The Hoh River corridor provides critical habitat for marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl, bald eagle and bull trout,” the conservancy said in a statement.
“It also supports some of the healthiest native salmon and steelhead runs in the Lower 48 states.”
Rayonier President David Nunes called the sale an “economically viable agreement” that he said will keep the land healthy and in a “forestland cover.”
The conservancy said it planned to maintain a forest designation and pay property taxes on the land.
Conservancy foresters and ecologists “have developed long-term plans that include planting trees, restoring important salmon and wildlife habitat and sustainable long-rotation timber harvest where it makes sense,” said Mike Stevens, Washington state director for the conservancy.
The conservancy previously purchased forest lands along the Queets and Clearwater rivers and is now managing 11,130 forest acres in Jefferson County.
The conservancy land is open to public and tribal use for hunting, fishing, hiking, boating, birding and other outdoor activities.
“The Hoh River Trust is pleased to welcome The Nature Conservancy to the Hoh Valley,” said Randy Messenbrink of Forks, president of the Hoh River Trust.
“Just as we have endeavored to create a restored and open land corridor, we are confident The Nature Conservancy holds these shared values and bring a great synergy to the Hoh River, the Forks community and the greater West End.”
Said Rayonier’s Nunes: “In addition to safeguarding salmon habitat, this project connects a large forested landscape from the mountains to the sea.
“The responsible stewardship provided by generations of Rayonier foresters since the 1940s makes this partnership possible.
“I would like to thank and acknowledge the collaborative work between the conservancy and our team for their creative and innovative approach to this transaction, resulting in an economically viable agreement that will not only keep the land ecologically healthy but also in a forestland cover.”
The conservancy said the purchase “was made possible with support from the Wyss Foundation, the Norcliffe Foundation and other private donors and supporters.”
“Everyone should have the chance to gaze up at the towering cedars of the Olympic Peninsula and experience the wild steelhead runs of the Hoh River,” said Hansjörg Wyss, who started the Wyss Foundation in 1998.
“Thanks to the foresight and leadership of local communities, future generations will be able to hike, hunt and explore the remarkable rainforests of the Hoh River from its source in Olympic National Park all the way to the Pacific Ocean.”
The Hoh is one of four major river systems flowing from the Olympics to the sea.
Farther south on the Washington coast, the conservancy owns and manages nearly 8,000 acres at the Ellsworth Creek Preserve adjoining Willapa National Wildlife Refuge on Willapa Bay.
The conservancy also owns 47,921 acres of forest land in the central Cascades east of Snoqualmie Pass.
Founded in 1951 and headquartered in Arlington, Va., The Nature Conservancy is the largest environmental nonprofit agency by assets and revenue in North America.
It works in all 50 states and more than 35 countries and has more than 1 million donors and dues-paying members, with assets that totaled $6.2 billion as of 2014.
It says it has protected more than 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide.
