DNR property added to Dishman Hills Conservation Area

Spokane County commissioners are going to take over ownership of 160 acres of state-owned land and combine it with existing parcels of the Dishman Hills Conservation Area.

The state Legislature included the Glenrose parcel in legislation that allows the Washington Department of Natural Resources to transfer ownership of various DNR lands for recreational use.

At the same time, the state will reimburse the common school trust account by $700,000 for removing the DNR property from the state’s timber holdings. Earnings from state timber land are used to help pay for school construction.

Spokane County commissioners had previously written state officials asking that the Glenrose property be included in the trust land transfer program during the current state budget cycle.

The property is east of Eastern Road and north of Thierman Road. The land adjoins a series of county-owned parcels with a total of 266 acres. The additional 160 acres brings the county’s ownership of the Glenrose Unit to 426 acres.

Access is available at the north end of Thierman, according to the county parks website.

County-owned land in the unit was previously acquired for conservation use by the county in 2012 under the Conservation Futures funding program.

The county calls the parcels the Glenrose Unit of the Dishman Hills Conservation Area.

The Dishman Hills Conservancy, a nonprofit organization, owns two parcels totaling 40 acres northeast of the unit.