‘Sacred’ Grove Of Cedars Belongs To Public Now Mill Owner Agrees To Land Swap

One of the nation’s most valuable stands of trees is safe from chain saws, thanks to a land swap completed Friday between the U.S. Forest Service and a sawmill owner.

The ancient cedar grove at Idaho’s Upper Priest Lake is in federal hands after five years of heated negotiations. The exchange was endorsed by both environmentalists and timber types.

“There are very few places in the continental United States that I regard as sacred ground, and that’s one of them,” said Sara Folger, Forest Watch Coordinator for the Inland Empire Public Lands Council.

Despite widespread support for the deal, many people have been uneasy with the price of preservation.

Marc Brinkmeyer, owner of Riley Creek Lumber Co., reportedly spent less than $2 million for the cedar grove in 1992. Thanks to the extreme value of old-growth cedar on the world lumber market, he got $8.7 million worth of federal land in exchange.

But dollars are an inadequate measure of the value of the property, Forest Service land specialist Bob Artis said.

“Not only is it old-growth cedar, but you’re picking up habitat for sensitive and rare plants. There’s also old-growth western hemlock,” he said. “Heck, you’re getting grizzly bear habitat, cutthroat habitat.

“You’ve got Coeur d’Alene salamanders, fishers, harlequin ducks, wolverines … There’s gobs of wetlands up there. This locks up that whole river system that drains into the lake, all the way down from Canada.”

Brinkmeyer sees the swap as good for the public as well as his company, which employs 145 at its Laclede sawmill.

“All’s well that ends well,” he said Friday. “We think people find that we’re responsible land managers with the 20,000 acres we presently have, and we’ll continue to acquire more land.”

His only regret is that the Forest Service wouldn’t name the grove after his grandmother, Carrie Fasse.

“Every time we were negotiating it got so hot and contentious that we never got to that,” Brinkmeyer said. “I wish we’d brought it up earlier.”

Besides the 520 acres at Upper Priest, the government got a 10-acre parcel in Kootenai County.

It gave up 2,305 acres. The biggest chunk of that is 1,950 acres in the Frost Peak/Latour Baldy area southeast of Coeur d’Alene. Riley Creek plans to start logging there next year.

There were some small parcels and other players involved in the complex deal, which involved land in Bonner, Shoshone, Kootenai and Boundary counties.

Brinkmeyer bought the cedar grove from Plum Creek Timber Co. intending to swap it. Federal foresters decided long ago that the site should be a natural research area.

But the value of the trees vastly exceeded Forest Service expectations. Brinkmeyer disputed the way the timber volume was calculated, and the way it was appraised. Both time-consuming processes had to be repeated.

The Orofino firm had proposed the transaction and officially held title to the cedar grove.

Some people suggested that Brinkmeyer donate part of the grove to make the swap more affordable to the public. He didn’t do that, but did talk about cutting some of the trees. That would have decreased the timber value of the property, but also scarred the pristine setting.

Even the smaller trees would have been far too big to be cut at his own state-of-the-art sawmill. The largest cedars have trunks 10 feet in diameter. Some are 1,500 years old.

By 1995, an offer was on the table.

But David Wright, supervisor of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, turned down the chance to trade 2,800 acres for Brinkmeyer’s 520 acres.

“I do not have leeway to say any piece of property is so unbelievable that we’ll pay any price for it,” he said at the time.

Negotiations broke off. Then started again.

Timber executives watched warily, knowing the public outcry that would result if the giant trees were cut. One of the biggest boosters of the trade was Ken Kohli, spokesman for the Intermountain Forest Industry Association.

Kohli, who died in a 1996 plane crash, would be pleased that the cedars will be preserved, his father said. “His theory was that you had to look at what was good for the public in anything you did,” David Kohli said.

All parties involved held their breaths this summer, hoping no one would appeal Wright’s April decision to go ahead with the deal.

No one did.

Instead, one environmental group will be sending a letter of thanks.

Said Bill White, chairman of the Selkirk-Priest Basin Association: “We give credit where credit is due.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo Map of area.