CHIMACUM — At least one group has gotten on board with the idea of Pope Resources owning more land near Port Ludlow.
At a public hearing — attended by some 75 people on Tuesday night in Chimacum — representatives from the Port Ludlow Village Council announced their group had voted unanimously to support a proposed land swap in East Jefferson County between Pope and the state Department of Natural Resources.
“We would prefer these lands go to Pope, because they have shown they are willing to compromise,” said Dan Meade, a member of the village council.
“We would rather have them than someone we don’t know.”
Meade said Pope had agreed to put in writing that they would not mine or rezone some of the lands in the swap that were close to the Port Ludlow boundaries.
As it stands now, Pope is offering to trade 4,420 acres to DNR for 2,970 acres of state land.
Acres favor DNR
While the difference in total acres favors DNR by 1,450 acres, the approximate value of timber on the land is closer, said a Resources spokeswoman.
“Our exchange process guarantees we receive fair value,” said Julie Armbrewster, spokeswoman for Resources.
“The law requires an equal value exchange.”
Armbrewster said the state had used an independent appraiser to value the lands being proposed in the swap to ensure fairness.
Write in promises
And while it would be illegal to regulate what Pope would do with the lands after the swap, Pope officials said they would be willing to put in writing a few promises.
According to Pope spokesman John Shea, the company would not rezone certain lands next to Port Ludlow for the next 20 years.
The company also said it would never open the parcel of land closest to the community to mining.
Laurie Hunt, another member of the village council, said those guarantees convinced the council to approve the swap.
“The discussions we have had with Pope have been very positive,” Hunt said.
“In the end, we could not find anything to hurt Port Ludlow in the land swap.”
However, not all of the speakers at the hearing had positive things to say.
Port Ludlow resident Linda Carp said there were community members who did not agree with the village council’s vote.
“This was decided with no input from the community,” Carp said.
“There are several people against this.
“We were not a part of these discussions, and we feel our voices have not been heard.”
Connie Gallant, with Olympic Forest Coalition, said her group was also opposing the swap.
“Private entities will not have to follow the same environmental practices and guidelines as DNR,” Gallant said.
“If approved, this trade will have a severe environmental impact.”
The proposal will now go to review, and final details of the swap will be discussed.
Armbrewster said no time line is set for when a proposal will be submitted to the commissioner of public lands.
Both parties have said that the impetus for the swap is to trade out lands that are currently intermingled, allowing for more financially responsible management of lands.
The exchange would consolidate DNR land near the Olympic National Forest with Pope Resources land near Dabob Bay and Port Ludlow.
As it stands, ownership of the land is a patchwork throughout the south part of East Jefferson County.
The exchange involves three state trusts: Common School, for building public schools statewide; University Original, benefiting University of Washington; and State Forest Transfer lands, revenues of which support county services such as fire districts.
Pope Resources has been a land and timber owner in the Pacific Northwest for more than 150 years.
The company owns 115,000 acres of productive timberland and nearly 3,000 acres of development property, most of which is within a 50-mile radius of Seattle.
Jefferson County reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
