At a Tuesday, June 17 meeting, the Clackamas County Commissioners
decided to give County Forester Dan Green a month to negotiate a possible
sale of part of a 180-acre section known as the Boulder Timber Sale, to
Western Rivers Conservancy.

The land, part of a larger 340-acre property owned by the county, is slated to
be harvested as recommended by the Clackamas County’s Timber Sale
Advisory Committee (TSAC) earlier in the month, yielding approximately 6.4
million board feet.

County Forester Dan Green noted the commissioners had two instructions
regarding the bid: get enough from the sale to be able to buy land on the
open market to replace what was sold and get the value for the timber at
market value.

“All we’re asking for is market, we’re not trying to get any kind of premium,”
Green said, noting the sale area would be approximately 140 acres.

Green added the two sides will have approximately one month to hash out the
details so he can present the deal to the commissioners at a study session
sometime past the middle of July. He also noted the commissioners offered
strong support for the timber sale “in one form or another” and that the
timeline can change if needed.

“It’s a flexible schedule, if more time is needed I’m sure it would be granted,”
he said.

Mountain resident Don Mench sees WRC as a good potential steward of the
land, should the sale go through.

“I think they’ve done well as far as helping to move the land into good
management,” he said. “I think they’ve been good at it.”

Mench added the “wild card” in the deal would be with the county
commissioners, noting the number of commissioners is now five when during
previous negotiations there were only three.

The timber sale, located in an area south of Highway 26 off Country Club
Road, would have been sent out for bid in June had WRC not submitted a
proposal. The TSAC recommended the sale by a 3-1 vote, with one absentee.

Green declined to share any details about the WRC proposal and WRC
Communications Director Danny Palmerlee declined to comment.