Longview port board Oks sale of wetland property

LONGVIEW — In a special meeting, Port of Longview Commissioners unanimously voted to sell wetland property for preservation. The port has agreed to sell a portion of its Willow Grove property to the Vancouver, Washington, based conservation group Columbia Land Trust (CLT) in a step toward becoming a ‘greener’ port. Originally purchased for industrial development, the port acquired 388 acres of Willow Grove wetlands property in three separate transactions (1959, 1965, 1974). Since purchasing the land, steepened mitigation requirements have deterred such development. To date, the property has only been used in the mitigation of industrial developments at the Port’s main property. CLT’s proposal calls to purchase 237 acres and transfer 75 port-mitigated acres for $355,500. Port of Longview will retain ownership of the remaining 76 acres for future mitigation needs and also have right of first refusal to mitigation credits derived from the 237 acres sold. The Longview Port Commission has directed staff to place funds from the sale into an account for future industrial property acquisitions.

Source: wwshipper