September 28, 2006

The Pacific Forest Trust Completes First Phase of
Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Conservation
Campaign with Purchase of Additional 2,750 Acres

Now Aims to Have Acquired Lands Officially Added to the Monument

Working in cooperation with two landowners, Forest Capital Partners (FCP) and the Swanson Group, the Pacific Forest Trust (PFT) is pleased to announce the acquisition of nearly 2,750 acres of private forestland within the boundaries of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (CSNM) Planning Area.

With these latest acquisitions, the “purchase and protect” phase of PFT’s Campaign to Complete the Vision is now complete and a total of nearly 4,750 acres of biodiversity-rich forests, meadows and streams have been conserved. In the second phase of the campaign, PFT aims to garner support to have these and previously acquired private lands transferred to public ownership and officially added to the Monument.

“Together with the redband trout and spotted owls, I rejoice in the fact that the Pacific Forest Trust has acquired these threatened forestlands and streams,” says Dave Willis, President of the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council and long-time CSNM advocate. “Thanks to PFT, the Monument is now more fully protected and another step closer to being made whole.”

The roughly 2,600 acres acquired from FCP in the central and southern regions of the CSNM comprise some of the largest blocks of private forestland within the CSNM Planning Area. PFT’s purchase of these properties ensures these lands will not be developed and the many vital resources on the properties – including nearly a mile of the Pacific Crest Trail and four important watershed streams – will be permanently protected.

The 150-acre property acquired from the Swanson Group looks out across the Oregon-California border from the center of the Monument, toward Iron Gate Reservoir, and contains the headwaters of Lincoln Creek.

These newly acquired Monument Planning Area lands are primarily mixed conifer forest of Douglas fir and ponderosa pine. These forestlands connect with old growth stands owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), providing an important wildlife corridor for many avian species with protected status including the northern spotted owl, bald eagle, northern goshawk and the pileated woodpecker. Many mammals, including black bear, Roosevelt elk and black-tailed deer, also benefit by the increased protection of these wildlife corridors.

“The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is a key anchor for biodiversity in the Klamath-Cascade, an eco-region that is home the most diverse and also most threatened conifer forests in the world,” says PFT President Laurie Wayburn. “Conserving these lands was a critical goal for us in our aim to ensure the ongoing vitality of this globally outstanding region.”

The acquisition of these properties creates a new conservation corridor along Keene Creek, one that is vital to the Monument’s biodiversity. Keene Creek provides critical habitat to the threatened speckled dace and the endemic Keene Creek pebble snail, the latter being a creature that is found nowhere else on Earth. The Keene Creek watershed is also home to 69 of the Monument’s more than 200 species of butterfly.

“We recognize these forestlands have tremendous public value and so we’re proud to be playing a key role in the Pacific Forest Trust’s Campaign to Complete the Vision,” says Forest Capital Partners Regional Manager Rod Shepard. “Helping to conserve vital natural resources like those found in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is a core component of our environmental stewardship program.”

The CSNM – established in 2000 as the first national monument to protect biodiversity – lies in Jackson County, OR north of the Oregon-California border. The Bureau of Land Management currently owns 60% of the 85,000-acre Monument Planning Area. The remaining privately owned lands are not protected under the Monument’s official designation. Unfortunately – given the extraordinary  beauty of the CSNM and the many recreational opportunities it provides – the private lands within the area are threatened by increasing residential development which in turn is fragmenting habitats, reducing public access and undermining the ecological integrity of the Monument.

PFT’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Campaign to Complete the Vision is aimed at creating a landscape that is more cohesive and managed to achieve the Monument’s goals and objectives. The CSNM Campaign is part of PFT’s wider effort to protect forestlands and natural resources in the remarkable, yet threatened, Klamath-Cascade eco-region that stretches across northern California and southern Oregon.

“The Bureau of Land Management continues to support the important contributions of the Pacific Forest Trust,” explains Oregon/Washington BLM State Director Elaine Brong. “The active management and creative approaches to the conservation, restoration, and stewardship of important lands in the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument is a goal shared by both the Bureau of Land Management and the Pacific Forest Trust.”

High-Resolution
Press-Ready Images

CSNM Planning Area
Acquisitions Map:
With these most recent acquistions, PFT has now conserved a total of
roughly 4,750 acres in the Monument Planning Area.

CSNM Campaign:
Meadow Spring on
Property Acquired from
Forest Capital Partners


CSNM Campaign:
Keene Creek on
Property Acquired from
Forest Capital Partners


CSNM Campaign:
Mountain Top Ridge on
Property Acquired from
the Swanson Group

CSNM Campaign:
Conifer Forest on
Property Acquired from
the Swanson Group