Major Land Swap In Cascade Range About To Begin Forest Service, Plum Creek Timber Will Exchange 81,003 Acres Of Timberland

A huge land swap that supporters say is crucial to maintain the biological diversity of the Cascade Range is about to begin.

The U.S. Forest Service and Plum Creek Timber Co. completed an agreement last week to work on the exchange, which would be the state’s biggest since 1943. It is expected to take two years and an estimated $2 million to complete.

If the 81,003-acre exchange is concluded, the public would gain lands concentrated along the Interstate 90 corridor over the Cascades, as well as many of the last roadless acres surrounding the popular Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area.

“The most significant thing about the exchange is what you wouldn’t see if it happens,” Sierra Club activist Charlie Raines said. “You wouldn’t see lots of clear cuts and roads and the continued decline of the spotted owl.”

There is a catch, however: To get the land it wants for the public, the Forest Service must convince some special interests, such as off-road vehicle enthusiasts, to let Plum Creek take over some of their favorite lands.

“You have to give away something good to get something better,” said Steve Johnson, manager of realty transactions for Wenatchee National Forest.

Under the deal, Plum Creek would give up 42,811 acres of its land in exchange for 38,192 acres now in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie, Wenatchee and Gifford Pinchot national forests. Much of the land is in the checkerboard pattern that was created in the 1800s when railroad companies were granted every other square mile in exchange for building transcontinental rail lines.

Environmental groups generally support the swap, since eliminating the checkerboard pattern will help build an uninterrupted stretch of wildlife habitat connecting the Alpine Lakes area to public lands around Mount Rainier.

“It’s all one forest when you take away the artificial lines drawn across it in the last 100 years,” said Len Gardner, a member of the Alpine Lakes Protection Society. “In terms of maintaining the ecological integrity of the Cascades, this exchange is essential.”

But it also comes with a deadline. Plum Creek officials say that if the exchange can’t be completed by March 1999, they will have no choice but to log the lands.

“We’ve got a business to run,” said Bill Brown, Plum Creek’s vice president of resource management. “But after three or four years of working on this, we’re pleased to have come this far.”