Anacortes Community Forest Lands

Infobox_protected_area | name = Anacortes Community Forest Lands
iucn_category = IV

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caption =
locator_x = 26
locator_y = 10
location = Washington, USA
nearest_city = Anacortes
lat_degrees = 48
lat_minutes = 28
lat_seconds = 3.87
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 122
long_minutes = 37
long_seconds = 46.13
long_direction = W
area = Convert|2800|acre|km2
established = 1919
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
governing_body = Anacortes City Council

Anacortes Community Forest Lands (ACFL) consists of mostly forested lands surrounding and adjoining Cranberry, Heart, and Whistle Lakes on Fidalgo Island, west and south of Anacortes, Washington. Its highest point is Sugarloaf, Convert|1044|ft|m. Mount Erie, the highest point on the island at Convert|1273|ft|m|0, is Convert|0.6|mi|km|1 south in adjacent Mount Erie Park.

ACFL originated in the August 2 1919 purchase by the city of Washington Power, Light and Water Company equipment and lands for $135,000. cite web| title =Management Plan for the Anacortes Community Forest Lands| publisher = Parks Department, City of Anacortes| date = 1991| url =http://www.cityofanacortes.org/parks/Documents/Comp_Plans/acfl1991.pdf| format = pdf| accessdate = 2007-10-29 ] Prior to 1989, the forest was logged for the revenue that it produced. In the late 1980s, the forest produced little or no net income and a community organization, Friends of the Forest, was formed to oppose logging. Subsequently, a survey by the Parks Department indicated that the community favored non-forestry uses of those lands, and a study showed that the forest trails were highly valued for recreational use. In 1990, the Forest Endowment Fund was started. On April 15 1991, the City Council ended logging, except to remove downed or dangerous trees, from the permitted uses of the forest. In 1998, a Conservation Easement Program (CEP) was adopted by the city council as a means of funding ACFL and preserving the forest. [cite web| title =Our History| publisher =Friends of the Forest| url =http://www.friendsoftheacfl.org/content.cfm?contentid=5| accessdate = 2007-10-29 ] Contributions to the CEP preserve the forest at a rate of $1000 per acre. The plan is monitored by Skagit Land Trust. As of mid-2007, over $1.5 million had been contributed and Convert|1500|acre|km2 was preserved. [cite web| title =Easement Program| publisher =Friends of the Forest| url =http://www.friendsoftheacfl.org/content.cfm?contentid=16| accessdate = 2007-10-29 ]

The forest includes lakes, bogs and wetlands, low mountains and rocky cliffs. Most of the forest has been logged once or twice, but a notable grove of low-elevation old growth forest remains. The upper story is dominated by Pinaceae (Pine Family) including "Pseudotsuga menziesii" (Douglas-fir), "Tsuga heterophylla" (Western Hemlock), "Pinus contorta" (Shore Pine), and "Abies grandis" (Grand Fir), as well as "Acer macrophyllum" (Bigleaf Maple), "Arbutus menziesii" (Pacific Madrone), and "Alnus rubra" (Red Alder). Important understory species are "Gaultheria shallon" (Salal) and "Acer circinatum" (Vine Maple). [cite web| title =Plant Database| publisher =Friends of the Forest| url =http://www.friendsoftheacfl.org/content.cfm?contentid=23| accessdate = 2007-10-29 ]

References