OLYMPIA — The state Board of Natural Resources this week authorized transferring 90 acres of forest trust land in Skamania County to conservation status to protect several nesting sites of northern spotted owls.
The land is about eight miles north of Stevenson and will become part of the Stevenson Ridge Natural Resources Conservation Area.
The state will pay the county $649,000 through the State Forest Trust Replacement Program. The program directs funds to small, economically stressed rural counties that rely heavily on timber sale revenue. but also have large tracts encumbered by federal wildlife protections.
The Department of Natural Resources will purchase replacement land in the county, which it will manage to provide revenue for the county.
