Margaret Unit

[280ackley]

Well he sure screwed up some prime hunting ground to make a buck!!

 

He didn't screw up anything and isn't the only person who owns prime hunting ground in this state or nation.

[280ackley]

Well surely they couldn't have bought the property up there for only the purpose of growing noble fir trees.   

And then the name "Agnew" seems to be coming up, and I'm sure everyone knows of Dan Agnew, big time elk hunter.

So now the Agnew family ends up with one of the best elk hunting areas in the state?

All that the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation does to protect lands such as this, and they didn't grab this one up?  WTH!

Does anyone really think there is a bull up there that Dan Agnew would want???  Also, in the last five years what is the best investment, land or the stock market???  If I had enough money to invest it would have been in land.  It is possable you guys are right but I bet I might be closer.

[bobcat]

I'm all for private property rights but to buy that particular area and lock elk hunters out just doesn't seem right to me. I bet the state could have come up with the money to purchase it if they'd been given a chance. It's a shame to keep the public out of such a prime elk hunting area like that. And then to say that the owners aren't even taking any elk out of there? Hard to believe. Sorry it just is. And if they're not going to hunt it then why not at least allow some access to the public for hunting, at least bow hunters if safety is really that much of a concern.

[iRem]

Well he sure screwed up some prime hunting ground to make a buck!!

 

He didn't screw up anything and isn't the only person who owns prime hunting ground in this state or nation.

Well, he sure did lock up/maybe not screw up some great hunting property. I'm just saying, I know that area and I know what type of animals can come out of there and to not allow any hunting during the prime time is a shame, just to make a buck! Just saying.....

[Huntbear]

I'm a friend of Mr. Agnew and asked him about the gossip and speculation appearing in this thread about the St. Helens Noble Farms acreage.

To set the record straight, there are no plans to use this property for a private wildlife management or hunting area, no current plans to get land owner hunting permits, no "extra" monies changed hands or were paid to anyone at the time of acquisition, and the property is being managed for some logging but primarily for the commercial production of noble fir boughs which can only be cut and harvested between mid-September and the first part of December (there are as many as 30 - 40 workers on the site during this 10 week period and for safety reasons, this is why the property is closed to the public during elk hunting seasons). Those wishing to "dig further" can save yourselves a lot of time.

And that is pure BS to lock hunters out of the best Elk hunting permit area in the Western part of the State...   Agnew is a *censored* for this,,,, definitely NOT a sportsman.. just another rich ass that hunts and buys his tags to get what he wants.. IF he was worried about safety.. dress his immigrant workers in BLAZE ORANGE jumpsuits...  and if you believe he is not in it for the hunting, get another drink of the Kool Aid he is selling.  NO other reason to down grade that unit to a regular bull from quality bull...  he wants to be able to sell hunting permits for his little slice of heaven....   OH, and just so you know... I HAVE NO PROBLEM SAYING ANY OF THIS TO HIS FACE!  Get him in front of me... his money does not scare me.. .he still puts his pants on just like me.. one leg at a time.

[iRem]

And that is pure BS to lock hunters out of the best Elk hunting permit area in the Western part of the State...   Agnew is a *censored* for this,,,, definitely NOT a sportsman.. just another rich ass that hunts and buys his tags to get what he wants.. IF he was worried about safety.. dress his immigrant workers in BLAZE ORANGE jumpsuits...  and if you believe he is not in it for the hunting, get another drink of the Kool Aid he is selling.  NO other reason to down grade that unit to a regular bull from quality bull...  he wants to be able to sell hunting permits for his little slice of heaven....   OH, and just so you know... I HAVE NO PROBLEM SAYING ANY OF THIS TO HIS FACE!  Get him in front of me... his money does not scare me.. .he still puts his pants on just like me.. one leg at a time.

Now, That's what I'm talking about!!

[Huntbear]

And, just so we are clear...

Agnew has spent how much money buying Governors tags?  I am sure he gets whatever the F&%$% he wants with WDFW, they are MONEY WHORES after all and can be bought...

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

There is no further digging needed.  The fact you say no current plans proves you dont know Agnes's permeate plans for the property.  Kill permits will go to this landowner id bet dollars to dimes.

[bucklucky]

Tell us how you really feal Huntbear ,dont hold anything back 

[Branden]

Just curious, is it the property that was bought that is such great hunting? Is it private blocking public land? Is public landlocked so there is no access at all?

[bobcat]

This is a newspaper article from three years ago:

Public access to High Lakes may require major public funding

By Tom Paulu The Daily News Online |

Posted: Friday, March 20, 2009 12:00 am

Public access to High Lakes may require major public funding ...A Cowlitz County building moratorium could postpone development of the High Lakes area near Mount St. Helens. Restoring public access to the land, however, would require more than $4 million at a time when public and private foundation budgets are tight.

Members of a task force devoted to keeping the High Lakes available for public recreation discussed the pros and cons of a development moratorium and tossed around ideas for funding during a Wednesday meeting in Longview.

The group’s focus is the area around Elk, Hanaford, Forest and Fawn lakes, which are a few miles north of Spirit Lake Memorial Highway, near the closed Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center.

With its cool lakes, steep ridges and long views, the area has long been treasured for outdoors recreation.

“My very first camping trip was to Forest Lake,” said Darcy Mitchem, a fifth generation Toutle Valley resident. She said she found articles in the Cowlitz County Advocate about stocking the lakes with fish in the 1920s.

“This has been used by the public for nearly 100 years,” Mitchem said.

Most of the region was owned by the Forest Service until around 1990, when Weyerhaeuser Co. acquired it. Weyerhaeuser allowed walk-in access to the trout-stocked lakes through most of the year, and the company opened its gates for hunting season.

In 2007, Weyerhaeuser sold 4,100 acres including the High Lakes to two men from the Tacoma area. The new owners, Kurt Erickson and Fred Wagner, have sold some of the parcels, but most of the land is still on the market.

Jessica Walz, conservation director of the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, said Erickson and Wagner are open to selling the approximately 3,000 acres that remain to a non-profit organization or governmental agency.

“We just have to get the money,” Walz said. The owners’ asking price is $8 million, Walz said, or $4.6 million for a conservation easement that would guarantee public access.

The Task Force continues to apply for grants to buy the land, Walz said. “It’s very difficult,” she said.

Several people at the meeting suggested asking the Forest Service to buy the High Lakes — as long as the agency didn’t require people to stay on a few trails as it does in the Spirit Lake basin.

Cowlitz County Commissioner Axel Swanson suggested people lobby the Mount St. Helens advisory committee, which has come up with a draft plan for future volcano management, to include the High Lakes in that plan.

Most of the High Lakes is in Skamania County, which has a building moratorium on the land. Skamania County plans to zone the area for commercial forestry, which wouldn’t allow construction of residences.

The GP Task Force is urging Cowlitz County commissioners to adopt a building moratorium for its part of the High Lakes, which includes Fawn Lake.

Cowlitz County Commissioners will meet at Toutle-Lake High School to seek public comment on the merits of a building moratorium at 7 p.m. March 31.

Swanson said the High Lakes have become a “lightning rod issue” in the moratorium debate. However, a moratorium would likely cover any part of the county that’s outside a fire district, not just the High Lakes, Swanson said.

“Moratorium is a word that scares a lot of people and makes a lot of people angry,” he said. It would prevent people from building on land, but not from selling it, he said.

Building moratoriums elsewhere have been challenged in lawsuits, Walz said, though a county can defend itself by showing that it’s working on a permanent land-use plan for the area in question.

Swanson said Cowlitz County is interviewing candidates for the position of planner, and it would be that person’s responsibility to update the county’s comprehensive plan. But the current budget crunch could hinder that hiring.

Walz said the county needs to have rules in place as private timberland companies sell off more property for residential development.

The High Lakes area is the first big chuck of timber land sold for residential use by Weyerhaeuser, Walz said. “It will not be the last.”



Read more: http://tdn.com/lifestyles/public-access-to-high-lakes-may-require-major-public-funding/article_15302e79-0262-5131-812a-6d5ba929a2d3.html#ixzz1umttpdSX

[Huntbear]

Just curious, is it the property that was bought that is such great hunting? Is it private blocking public land? Is public landlocked so there is no access at all?

It is both... as part of the sale Weyco dug a 30 ft.deep hole to block acess to Miners creek...   and yes the high lakes are the ultimate elk hunting area.

[kentrek]

so basicaly the state couldnt afford 4 million to make it public ?
but they can afford the new "x" dallor observatory building ?(thats not even for the public)


 i love how our state allocates money..

[Branden]

It is both... as part of the sale Weyco dug a 30 ft.deep hole to block acess to Miners creek...   and yes the high lakes are the ultimate elk hunting area.

So you are saying that those 4000 acres hold all the bulls in the Margret unit? And that Weyco does not allow even foot traffic to miners creek?

[Huntbear]

It is both... as part of the sale Weyco dug a 30 ft.deep hole to block acess to Miners creek...   and yes the high lakes are the ultimate elk hunting area.

So you are saying that those 4000 acres hold all the bulls in the Margret unit? And that Weyco does not allow even foot traffic to miners creek?

Never said that.. there is still HIKE IN access to other parts of the Margaret... IF you know where to go.  A guy fell off a bluff on one trail and died last year, going in from a different angle...

On the West & South end of the unit, those roads hold ALL the access...  and you can walk thru that and hike back in there, but.. you are parked on Weyco land, so you have to be out and thru the gate 1 hr. after dark.  If you want to hunt till dusk, from where the road is ditched, there is NO way to make it safely..  I guess if you wanted to drive like Dukes of Hazzard in your 4x4, yea you might make it.  Otherwise expect a trespass ticket from security and the local sheriff...

Everything from where that ditched road is, back to to the Winston unit, which is where that road goes thru and ends up at the 500 gate, is REPROD so thick you need a spear to hunt it, not a gun...  Weyerhauser did a number on the near end of the unit, with their logging and replanting.