Spokane County acquisition of conservation land complete

Spokane County has taken possession of 160 acres of former state timberland in the Glenrose portion of the Dishman Hills Conservation Area.

The land was previously owned by the state Department of Natural Resources and handed over to the county through legislative action earlier this year.

The former timber trust land was deemed suitable for recreational use under a state trust land transfer program.

The county obtained title at the end of March.

The former DNR parcel can be reached from Thierman Road on the south.

The 160 acres are just west and adjacent to 267 acres of county-owned land in the Glenrose Unit of the conservation area, which were purchased through the county’s Conservation Futures program in 2012.

Together, they make up an expanded Glenrose Unit of the conservation area.

Another 40-acre parcel immediately to the northeast is owned by the Dishman Hills Conservancy.

The long-range goal of the acquisitions is to create links among various conservation holdings in the Dishman Hills, a goal that the conservancy calls the Dream Trail Conservation Corridor.

In a news release, Jeff Lambert, executive director for the nonprofit conservancy organization, said his group began pushing in 2012 to have the DNR land transferred to the county’s conservation area. The effort had support of the Glenrose Community Association, he said.

As part of the deal, the state will reimburse the common school trust account by $700,000 to make up for loss of future timber earnings.

Other conservation holdings in the Dishman Hills are the 533-acre Dishman Hills Natural Area adjacent Camp Caro Community Park on the north; the 966-acre Iller Creek Unit of the conservation area, which includes Big Rock to the south; the 190-acre Rocks of Sharon; and 240-acre East Ridge.

The Rocks of Sharon and East Ridge are owned by the conservancy.