Cedar Grove Swap Makes Progress
The U.S. Forest Service and a lumber company took a big step this week toward preserving an ancient cedar grove near Upper Priest Lake.
“We’re excited,” said Bob Artis, a Forest Service land specialist. “But we’re not home free yet.”
Artis is among those who’ve worked for five years to arrange a land exchange that would keep the cedars intact. The cathedral-like grove, with trees as old as 1,500 years, includes rare plants and a wetland. It’s considered a national treasure by The Nature Conservancy.
The Forest Service started the bureaucratic ball rolling on Wednesday with a published notice that began the first of two public comment periods. In between those, an environmental assessment will be done.
If the exchange with Riley Creek Lumber Co. is approved this summer by the forest supervisor, it could be completed by fall.
That’s good news for Bill White and his fellow environmentalists in the Selkirk-Priest Basin Association.
“We’re delighted that this old-growth cedar forest is not going to be lost to the chain saw,” he said Thursday.
Marc Brinkmeyer, who owns the Riley Creek mill at LaClede, bought the 520 pristine acres in 1992 with plans to exchange it with the Forest Service. The agency has long wanted to turn the cedars and nearby wetlands into a botanical preserve.
The rare cedars are extraordinarily valuable, and Brinkmeyer proved a hard bargainer.
In 1995, David Wright, the supervisor of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, turned down the chance to swap 2,800 acres of less valuable timberland for the 520 acres.
“I do not have leeway to say any piece of property is so unbelievable that we’ll pay any price for it,” Wright said at the time.
This time, the proposal is to exchange 2,305 acres of government land for 530 private acres (the grove, plus another 10 acres east of Coeur d’Alene.)
Most of the land that Riley Creek would receive, 1,950 acres, is in the Frost Peak/Latour Baldy area. That’s located between the Coeur d’Alene river and the Kootenai-Benewah County line.
Riley Creek would also get scattered tracts of Forest Service land near Terror Gulch, the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River, Cocolalla, Hoodoo Valley, the Pend Oreille River and Eastport.
If the forest supervisor approves the deal, the public will have 45 days to object. Riley Creek vice president Bob Boeh fears someone will appeal and slow down the exchange.
“I’m sure there will be the Friends of the Something or Other come out of the woodwork (to appeal),” Boeh said Thursday.
“Hopefully, there will be enough support to make it go through. I think it’s in the best interest of everybody.”
White, of the Selkirk-Priest Basin Association, said he is not aware of anyone who would appeal. However, he said some people will object to the profit Riley Creek stands to make.
“Brinkmeyer bought the land for less than $2 million, and the (current) valuation is $8.7 million,” he said, attributing the figures to the Forest Service.
“So Brinkmeyer has just picked up $7 million from the taxpayer,” White said. “That seems a bit inordinate, but that’s the deal that’s been cut.”
Artis said the appraisal figure is not yet public record. Darrel Olsen of Clearwater Realty, which is handling the transaction, said his company does not release appraisal figures as a matter of policy.
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