Category Overview
Forestland Preservation grants help improve opportunities for forest management activity and improve the long-term growth and harvest of timber. These projects help protect many different kinds of forests, including, but not limited to, large-scale industrial forests, small private landowner forests, community forests, and tribally - or publicly-owned and managed forests.
Project Highlights
Skagit Land Trust placed a Conservation Easement (CE) on 41.5 acres of working forestland on Devil’s Mountain. The CE included a baseline inventory. The CE protected the Property in perpetuity from conversion to non-forest uses by removing all development rights. The primary purpose of the easement is to support continued forestry uses. The Project provides multiple additional benefits. The Property’s wetlands and creek flow in the Nookachamps, a large, low elevation tributary to the Skagit River. It provides excellent habitat for large mammals, documented by the landowner through wildlife cameras. The Property will continue to support the Skagit County’s Strategic Plan through the protection of forest natural resources, water quality benefits, and rural character. Devil’s Mountain is a largely intact block of lowland forest resource land located near I-5 and Mount Vernon. The block has been identified as resilient to climate change due to its varied geology, topography, aspects, and microclimates. It sustains diverse plant and animal species and provides a species “bridge” between Little Mountain and the Pilchuck Tree Farm and a stepping stone between the Puget Sound and the North Cascades. It is also critical for local water quality. SLT hired a surveyor to mark a property corner where a neighbor had encroached on a small area by cutting trees installing a small drainage pipe. The CE does not include the encroached upon area nor the access road along the Property’s northern boundary. SLT marked the Project boundaries as a SLT conservation easement. SLT also installed a funding acknowledgment sign in recognition of RCO’s funding contribution.