The Jefferson County Land Trust, which acquired the 853-acre Chimacum Ridge property in December 2023, plans to open the Chimacum Ridge Community Forest to the public in 2025. It will host public tours before it officially opens.  

The trust is a private, nonprofit conservation organization that works to preserve open space, working lands and habitat in Jefferson County. 

It’s been working to protect the forest since 2010. 

The forest, located between Center and Beaver Valley in East Jefferson County, will offer ecological, economic and social benefits, promoting a regenerative relationship with the land,  according to the trust’s website. 

Staff and volunteers are focused on building infrastructure, including trails, signage, parking and policies for future use. 

The forest will feature walking, hiking, horseback riding trails, and wheelchair-accessible paths, all nestled among 40-year-old Douglas firs, western red cedars, western hemlocks, and Sitka spruce trees. 

The forest also will drive a local wood economy, providing timber and other non-timber resources, while still providing critical wildlife habitat and sequestering carbon. Staff are working on completing ecological studies and permitting necessary for sustainable timber harvesting. 

The Land Trust will host a few free driving and walking tours of the community forest this month.   

More information can be found at act.saveland.org/event/chimacum-ridge-public-tours/e584030.