Conservationists buy coast forest tracts
- Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, November 19, 2006
With financial help from three state agencies, a conservation group said Friday it acquired 16,000 acres of coastal forests from a timber company for $48.5 million.
The Conservation Fund received a $25 million low-interest loan from the State Water Resources Board to buy the Big River and Salmon Creek forests in Mendocino County from Hawthorne Timber Co.
The fund also received two $7.25 million grants from the state Coastal Conservancy and Wildlife Conservation Board.
The Arlington, Va.-based Conservation Fund said the acquisition ensures that the redwood and Douglas fir forests will be protected permanently from fragmentation and development.
