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Former Forest Service official and staff clarify land acquisition history; Forest Service updates commission on wildfire and access work
Summary
A former Forest Service official described the history of federal land purchases and local memoranda of understanding in the Columbia River Gorge, and Forest Service staff told the commission the agency — not the Columbia River Gorge Commission — is the entity responsible for land acquisition under the National Scenic Area Act.
Lynn Burdette, who said she previously served with the U.S. Forest Service, briefed the Columbia River Gorge Commission on the history of Forest Service land acquisitions and memoranda of understanding in Skamania County, and urged clearer public communication about the agency’s role.
Burdette told commissioners that most acquisitions in Skamania County occurred in the early years of the National Scenic Area’s implementation, that there have been four purchases since 2010 and only one since 2018 (a roughly 13-acre parcel at Cape Horn), and that conveyances and transfers related to the Wind River administrative site have moved parcels to local ownership through federal legislation. She said memoranda of understanding between the Forest Service, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and local government were used to share potential interests in land acquisitions and minimize surprise, and noted a roughly $720,000 payment program tied to early acquisitions under the National Scenic Area Act.
Executive Director Christina (staff) and Chair Michael Mills confirmed the commission’s limited role in land acquisition decisions. Christina said staff sent a reply to the Skamania County Board clarifying that the Forest Service, as a land-management agency, is the entity that acquires land under the National Scenic Area Act and that the commission does not conduct purchases.
Forest Service representative Nicholas (presenting staff) updated the commission on several related items: cumulative Forest Service acreage acquired in Skamania County since about 2008 is on the order of a few hundred acres, the agency is preparing initial strategies in response to a recent USDA memorandum on timber and related forest-system priorities, and hazard-reduction and public-access work continues. He noted the agency’s emphasis on reducing destructive wildfire risk, supporting rural economies through partnerships and workforce alignment, and continuing public access work such as recent day-use area openings and management of visitor access at high-use sites.
Commissioners and members of the public pressed for more public engagement around prescribed-fire planning following a prescribed burn that became a wildfire. Nicholas said the Forest Service intends to share a lessons-learned product and to continue public engagement on prescribed-fire planning; he also offered to provide the commission with planning documents on prescribed burns within the scenic area on request.
The commission received the information; no new regulatory action was taken by the commission during the discussion.
