In brief: Search continues for missing hiker, 60

PORT ANGELES, Wash. – Teams searched Saturday for a 60-year-old man missing in Washington’s Olympic National Park, focusing on an area off trail where his pack was found.

Jim Griffin hasn’t been seen since he went for a hike Monday on the Olympic Hot Springs Trail. His friends reported him missing Wednesday night after he failed to show up at a Christmas Eve dinner.

The National Park Service said Saturday that nearly two dozen people were conducting an intensive grid search in the area where they found his day pack about 50 feet off trail.

Spokeswoman Jacilee Wray said they believe Griffin set off around 11 a.m. Monday for the hot springs, which is about 2 1/2 miles from the trailhead.

People reported seeing him at the hot springs that afternoon, so officials believe Griffin may have hiked back to his car in the dark, she said.

“He’s a slow and steady hiker,” she said, adding that he would have been moving slower because of a previous leg injury.

The trail to the hot springs rises about 1,800 feet in elevation.

Forest by volcano preserved

VANCOUVER, Wash. – A Vancouver-based conservation group said a new deal will prevent development on nearly 3,100 acres of private forestland south of Mount St. Helens.

Columbia Land Trust announced last week that it bought development rights on the timberland, which is owned by Pope Resources, a timber company based in Poulsbo, Washington.

The group said the purchase protects critical riverside habitat and ensures that forestry will continue on much of the land.

It is part of a larger project to protect from development more than 20,000 acres of land near Swift Reservoir on the Lewis River. The land is west of Pine Creek in Skamania County.

Washington Wildlife & Recreation Program provided nearly $1.3 million in state grant money for the conservation easement.

State grows by 1.3 percent

SEATTLE – The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Washington’s population grew by nearly 88,000 people from July 2013 to July 2014.

Estimates released last week show Washington had just over 7 million residents as of July 1. That’s up 1.3 percent from a year before.

Meanwhile, Oregon gained about 42,000 people, or about a 1 percent increase, over the last year. Oregon had nearly 4 million people as of July 1.

Washington grew by 5 percent between 2010 and 2014, while Oregon grew by 3.6 percent in that time.

Nationally, the population grew by about 0.75 percent to 318.9 million people.

North Dakota was the nation’s fastest-growing state over the last year. California remained the nation’s most populous state with 38.8 million residents.