Weyerhaeuser new fees come to Saint Helens tree farm

[cryfowl]

Spoke to Weyco guy today.  As of today, Fee will be $245 pp to access upper Donovan, wynoochee, satsop, Charlie creek areas.  $75 to access Minot peak and a few other surrounding areas.  Limited number of permits.  They are still discussing the final touches and official word will come late this month or early June.  I won't participate in the hunt in Wa this year as I'm disgusted.  Road trip to Wyoming for me.

[PolarBear]

Vail went up to $200

[washelkhunter]

A dozen of us should come together and bid on that 5k acre chunk thats going to come up for lease. Ill bet its going to abut the st helens monument and the toutle unit.   

[RB]

A dozen of us should come together and bid on that 5k acre chunk thats going to come up for lease. Ill bet its going to abut the st helens monument and the toutle unit.   

Yeah but what would that cost??

[washelkhunter]

A dozen of us should come together and bid on that 5k acre chunk thats going to come up for lease. Ill bet its going to abut the st helens monument and the toutle unit.   

Yeah but what would that cost??

I dont know, its going for bids. But you know what they say.

[PolarBear]

Be careful about leasing  land from Weyco.   A 600+ acre chunk 1/4 mile from my house went up for lease last year. Unfortunately the guys who own the adjoining property decided that they were going to hunt that leased land no matter who had the lease.  It almost wound up in a shoot out.  Myself and a few other locals were all ready to bid on the lease when we realized that this exact thing would happen and backed out.  I'm really glad that we didn't waste our money!

[bbarnes]

The other problem is you can lease a area,but if you don't draw a tag you can't hunt the Toutle,Margaret.There drawing is after the WDFW DRAWS OUR TAGS.

[bobcat]

The other problem is you can lease a area,but if you don't draw a tag you can't hunt the Toutle,Margaret.There drawing is after the WDFW DRAWS OUR TAGS.

I assume for those who are drawn for Toutle or Margaret elk permits, that they would simply buy a St Helens access permit for $150 when they go on sale June 23rd.

Of course we don't even know yet that a person who draws Margaret or Toutle will have to buy an access permit. They have not provided us with all the details yet. Supposedly some areas will still be free. Here is what we know so far:

Beginning August 1st, 2014, the St. Helens Tree Farm will start a new recreational access program.
You can go to www.WYRecreationNW.com for full details on the program starting May 19th. These
are the basics:
 We will sell up to 15,000 permits online for $150. Each permit will be good for the permittee,
legally married spouse, and children and grand children 18 years old and younger. A permit is
required for motorized and non-motorized access. These permits will be valid from August
1st, 2014 through January 31st, 2015 and are required to access the majority of the tree farm
during that time frame.
 Permits will be sold online starting Monday, June 23rd at 6:00 PM through September 30th.
 We will offer through an online bidding process, up to twelve areas for lease. The lease will
provide the lessee and lessee’s designated friends and family exclusive recreational use of the
area.
 Lease bidding will start Monday, May 19th and end Thursday, June 5th at 6:00 PM.
 We will not require a permit to access most corridors to state land and fisheries.
 Some areas will still have free access as in the past.

[t6]

from the Longview Daily News.     http://tdn.com/lifestyles/weyerhaeuser-access-fee-stirs-frustration-among-residents-hunters/article_af75826a-d704-11e3-a4a1-0019bb2963f4.html

[bobcat]

From the article:

Jonker said the number of $150 permits the company plans to offer -- 15,000 -- is about the same as the total number of deer and elk hunters in the area last season. “If you want to hunt, you can. You just need to get a permit,” she said.

However, she said the agency may have to reconsider the way it allocates special hunting permits based on where Weyerhaeuser establishes areas that can only be accessed by lease-holders. “There’s a lot of questions I don’t know the answer to,” Jonker said.


I would bet money that Toutle and Margaret will be a general season next year for elk. Weyerhaeuser now controls the number of hunters in certain game management units, there's no need for the state to do so anymore.

[Bob33]

I would bet money that Toutle and Margaret will be a general season next year for elk. Weyerhaeuser now controls the number of hunters in certain game management units, there's no need for the state to do so anymore.

I don't know the exact number but my guess is that combined permit applications in the Margaret and Toutle units are in the 15,000+ range. That's $90K of permit applications revenue. I don't expect them to give that up.

[bearpaw]

I would bet money that Toutle and Margaret will be a general season next year for elk. Weyerhaeuser now controls the number of hunters in certain game management units, there's no need for the state to do so anymore.

I don't know the exact number but my guess is that combined permit applications in the Margaret and Toutle units are in the 15,000+ range. That's $90K of permit applications revenue. I don't expect them to give that up.

Bingo....

[pianoman9701]

The DFW has forged relationships with big timber without asking them to commit.  We have the results of that unholy union. The timber company has their cake, the state's cake, and our cake, and they're eating all of it. If you aren't pounding the table of your reps and senators demanding that the tax laws be re-written, you're asleep.

Prime hunting land for elk that have trouble walking. Safe to eat, too, if you believe what we're told. Even though the DFW continues to tell us they don't know what causes elk hoof disease, they're somehow confident in telling us to go ahead and chow down.

[pianoman9701]

I would bet money that Toutle and Margaret will be a general season next year for elk. Weyerhaeuser now controls the number of hunters in certain game management units, there's no need for the state to do so anymore.

I don't know the exact number but my guess is that combined permit applications in the Margaret and Toutle units are in the 15,000+ range. That's $90K of permit applications revenue. I don't expect them to give that up.

You need a new calculator, Bob. The figure is $2.25M, and that's only if all of the permits sell for the minimum $150.

[snowpack]

I think he's talking about the WDFW permits $7-$13 each at ~15K permits to draw for the area that would be in the tree farm.