Josephine County Forestland On Auction After Conservation Deal Fails

JOSEPHINE COUNTY, Ore. — A federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plot of forestland under negotiations to be purchased by a local conservation group will now be auctioned.

The negotiations fell through as the Josephine County commissioners backed out after BLM commissioners didn’t give assurances that the property wouldn’t be logged. The group who hoped to buy the land will likely have to pay a much higher price at the auction.

Josephine County Forestland Conservation Negotiations

The local nonprofit conservation group Williams Community Forest Project was negotiating to buy “Pipe Fork,” a 320-acre plot of forestland using a little over $2 million from The Conservation Fund plus $300,000 of community-raised funds until the deal fell through in July.

The project intended to incorporate a portion of the Pipe Fork land into an adjacent Research Natural Area and conserve it, despite that the real estate marketing materials stated explicitly that the land was for logging.

Josephine County commissioners backed out of the deal after indicating that BLM didn’t promise the land would be publicly accessible and wouldn’t be logged. The land was subsequently sold to the Bureau of Land Management.

Josephine County Pipe Fork Auction

Cheryl Bruner, secretary for the Williams Community Forest Project, who wants to keep the land out of the hands of timber companies, said they are disappointed in the commissioners’ decision to put the land up for auction instead.

According to the real estate offer, the 1,800-acre Josephine County Timberland Portfolio- to be sold in its entirety or in individual tracts or combination of tracts, is GreenGold timberland with mainly well-stocked 50-to-70-year-old Douglas-firs.

The brochure indicated that it could provide near-term cash flow in Southern Oregon’s competitive log market. Commissioners John West and Herman Baertschiger did not respond to requests for an interview.

The minimum bid price set for Pipe Fork has now been set at almost double the original nonprofit’s offer as it’s bundled with another 280-acre tract of forestland nearby- Thompson Creek.

Bruner said the nonprofit is trying to get enough funding raised to make a bid on the land before the Nov. 14 auction. They are looking for people who want to conserve the land to bid on the land,

Williams Community Forest Project will have a community meeting on October 24 to keep people up-to-date and gain support.