Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Conservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents and advocates express interest in buying Pipe Fork Forest parcel; federal grant funding mentioned
Summary
A group of residents told the commissioners they are interested in purchasing the Pipe Fork Forest parcel the county has offered for sale and asked the board to unbundle it from an adjacent parcel to reduce the purchase price; they said Land and Water Conservation Fund money is available for the acquisition.
A group of potential purchasers told the Board of Commissioners they are interested in buying the Pipe Fork Forest parcel and asked the county to separate (unbundle) it from an adjacent Thompson Creek parcel so the Pipe Fork parcel could be sold alone.
Chaz Rogers, a resident and local pilot who said he represents interested parties, described ecological and recreational reasons for preserving Pipe Fork Forest and said money appropriated by the U.S. Congress is available through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to purchase the tract. “The money has been appropriated by the US Congress, which is pretty amazing in itself. So that money is waiting as a grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to purchase this parcel,” Rogers told the board. He urged the county to unbundle the parcel and said prospective buyers were ready to proceed when the county made the parcel available separately.
Rogers described the parcel as ecologically valuable — with habitat approaching old-growth conditions and species such as Port Orford cedar — and said it offered trails, waterfalls and secluded habitat. He asked commissioners to notify interested purchasers when the county’s next steps are determined.
The board did not take immediate action during the meeting on the request; commissioners acknowledged the comment and proceeded with the agenda. No formal motion to unbundle or to begin negotiations was recorded in the transcript.
