CHIMACUM — State action this week cleared the way for a proposed eventual transfer to Jefferson County of 64 acres of state Department of Natural Resources land between two county parks, an action intended to avoid having clear-cuts next to popular county trails.
The Natural Resources Board on Tuesday voted to withhold the timberland between Beausite Lake and Gibbs Lake County Parks from a proposed state timber sale auction, called the Silent Alder timber sale.
That was good news for county Commissioner John Austin, who attended the meeting in Olympia.
He has been working closely with the agency that manages state lands to position the county to acquire the site to preserve the forestland between the two popular parks, which have limited trail access.
The proposed transfer could take as long as two years to accomplish, Austin said.
“There are complex ways the county can take over this territory and be part of an expanded Gibbs Lake Park,” Austin said.
“What we’re probably going to do is have the county assume title through a reconveyance or a trust land transfer,” he added.
Additional state acreage south and southeast of the two units the county wants to acquire could be added in the future because they wrap around Beausite Lake, from west to east, Austin said.
The land transfer to the county, as proposed, would require a letter from the county to the agency showing the county supports future timber sales in the county.
The county has approved sending the letter.
The county must also agree to pay the state $30,000 for land preparation and administrative costs that DNR incurs.
Another $15,000 could be charged to the county for title review, Austin said, including easement issues involved in the reconveyance.
Gibbs Lake Park contains 240 acres around a popular fishing, boating and swimming lake. Its trials are used by hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians.
Beausite Lake Park is home to the Northwest Kiwanis Camp and a conference and reception facility.
The parks are less than one mile apart.
Austin said he has received a number of e-mail messages from park users asking that the trees be preserved.
“Silent Alder was a unique situation due to its proximity to our existing parks,” the county commissioner said in a Feb. 22 letter supporting the land transfer that was sent to Peter Goldmark, elected Commissioner of Public Lands, who chairs the Natural Resources Board, which oversees DNR operations.
The remainder of the DNR’s timber sale includes land on the Toandos Peninsula near Coyle and south of Lake Leland near Quilcene, Austin said, and is not near county parks.
Five more units in the sale would remain available for possible future timber sale and harvest, DNR officials said.
_________
Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
