More Conserved Lands 
Butte Creek
Type of Project: Facilitated
Old-growth forest is a rare habitat in Oregon’s Coast Range, and its ability to survive often depends upon the forest buffers around it, which help keep this intricate forest ecosystem intact and functioning.
When a strip of land bordering the ancient forest along the western flank of Saddle Mountain State Park near Fox Creek was slated to be logged in 1991, the fledgling North Coast Land Conservancy—just five years old—acted quickly and creatively.
Working with Oregon State Parks and the landowner, Cavenham Forest Industries Inc., NCLC made a strong case for the protection of this critical buffer area. The land swap that resulted—State Parks swapping a piece of land with little recreational, scenic or wildlife value for the three-acre Fox Creek tract—was a win-win for all concerned, especially the marbled murrelets, Copes giant salamanders and other native wildlife species that continue to thrive in this coastal rainforest.
In 2008, NCLC again helped to expand Saddle Mountain State Park by facilitating State Parks’ purchase of another adjacent 137 acres of maturing second-growth forest from Weyerhaeuser Inc.
