Nature Conservancy to buy 75 square miles of land

The Nature Conservancy is buying about 75 square miles of land near Cle Elum, Roslyn and Snoqualmie Pass from Plum Creek Timber Company for wildlife protection, outdoor recreation and clean water, according to a news release. Jill Scheffer, senior conservation director in Central Washington for the statewide Forterra group, said she was thrilled at the news of the sale. Efforts have been underway for many years by conservation and environmental protection groups to find ways to sell the land as a block to allow better habitat and wildlife management, instead of selling it off piecemeal, Scheffer said. The Conservancy is buying 47,921 acres of forest land in northern Kittitas County. The $49 million purchase is the nonprofit group’s largest acquisition in Washington and will double its holdings in the state. The project is part of a larger, $134 million purchase that also includes 117,000 acres from Plum Creek in Montana’s Blackfoot River Valley, for a total of 165,000 acres...more