Skyline Forest—the 33,000 acre forest west of Bend—has been on the Deschutes Land Trust’s radar ever since its original owner Crown Pacific first went bankrupt five years ago. In 2005, the Land Trust succeeded in getting legislation passed to support community forests like Skyline and we continue to work to protect as much of Skyline and other former Crown lands as possible. Skyline Forest is the most prominent piece of nearly 270,000 acres of timberlands formerly owned by Crown Pacific and now controlled by Fidelity National Financial.

With each of these forests (Mazama and Gilchrist tree farms) being unique, the Land Trust has encouraged and continues to explore a variety of different approaches and partnerships to protect these lands. As mentioned in a recent Bend Bulletin article, those partnerships may include the Oregon Department of Forestry.

Brad Chalfant, the Land Trust's executive director said, "the Land Trust has a long history of working closely with state agencies such as the Department of Forestry and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and we're excited about the possibilities." The Land Trust continues to encourage and still anticipates a broad public discussion between Fidelity and our local communities to begin sometime this summer, so please stay tuned!