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http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/articles/2003/11/26/news/news1.txt Purchase adds new land to wilderness area Updated: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 6:08 AM PST Harry Frey, left, with the Klamath National Forest, and Reid Haughy, president of the Wilderness Land Trust, talk about the purchase of two sections of land in the KNF near Middle Boulder Lake. - SDN photo by John Diehm The new wilderness land purchases are near Middle Boulder Lake and the Pacific Crest Trail. YREKA - The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors maintained its "neutral" position while receiving the report of 1,289 acres of private land going into the Klamath National Forest, purchased by the Wilderness Land Trust. Harry Frey with the Klamath National Forest (KNF), and Reid Haughy, president of the Wilderness Land Trust (WLT) appeared before the supervisors on Nov. 4 to report on the transaction. The WLT purchased two private land holdings within the KNF near Middle Boulder Lake and sold them to the KNF. The purchase takes away two of the squares that make up the "checkerboard" appearance of a typical National Forest Service map. It will take 1,289 acres of county tax base land away from county jurisdiction, placing it into federal ownership, a loss to the county's tax base. In discussion, the supervisors expressed mixed feelings about the transaction. The supervisors were concerned about the loss of county tax base land and at the same time appreciated that the popular recreation area will remain open to public use. Supervisor Marcia Armstrong said this is in her district and she is strongly opposed to the loss of more county land. "I would rather see the public have access to it than not," she said and asked Frey if grazing on the land will continue. Frey said there are existing grazing permits within wilderness areas and he believes that traditional grazing will continue in these sections. He said this represents two full sections of land. "These were private properties within existing wilderness areas," Frey said. "The uses of the property will not change from what is being done up there now." Supervisor Bill Hoy said he would rather see timber sales in this county fund projects rather than other interests. "I am getting weary of living in a wilderness area," he said. Haughy said the WLT was founded in 1992 to help with preservation of wilderness areas by working with private inholdings in the wilderness area. "We take advantage of willing sellers and market the land to wilderness," Haughy said. "We have done 197 transactions since 1992 in seven states and 38 wilderness areas and have been involved with this project since 2000." As a nonprofit organization, the WLT purchases land and sells it to the Forest Service at its appraised value, Haughy said. "Sometimes we have excess money from the sale and sometimes we have our supporters pick up the difference," he said. Frey said one comment was received in the public comment window relating to the KNF purchase. The supervisors received the report without taking action, continuing the board's neutral position established in October 2000 when the proposal first came before them. - SDN story by John Diehm +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material  herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed  a  prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and  educational purposes only. For more information go to:  http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

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