For Immediate Release

Land Trust Announces Sale of 110-acre Sugar Pine Ridge Property to local Forest Service

Lake Arrowhead, CA— October 24, 2011— San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust (SBMLT) today announced that a 110-acre parcel on Sugar Pine Ridge was recently added to the U.S. Forest Service in a sale by the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust. The longtime privately-owned property was formerly surrounded by public National Forest. It is located on the scenic western fringe of the San Bernardino Mountains on Forest Service Road 2N49.

This region is a natural refuge for mountain wildlife. Deer herds, bears, and mountain lions are able to traverse this rugged partly-forested landscape while keeping a safe distance away from the nearby communities of Cedar Pines Park and Crestline.

This property is one of many missing pieces (called private inholdings) intermixed throughout the National Forest. Such inholdings cause gaps in the Forest’s wildland integrity and compromise the optimum management practices. They are places where invasive development could eventually spring up to intrude upon the otherwise pristine surroundings.

Protecting isolated parcels like this from becoming urbanized helps to avoid the harmful fragmentation of wildlife habitat and scenic beauty that has disrupted the National Forest in other over-developed areas.

Sugar Pine Ridge is one of several parcels that the Land Trust has been working to protect for many years. Each success in adding conservation protection to another missing piece represents a vital step forward. The proceeds from the sale will go back into a revolving acquisition fund, which the Land Trust will use to purchase another threatened piece of our unique mountain environment.

The Land Trust worked with the Forest Service for two years in order to bring this deal to its final closure. The transfer of the grant deed was formally recorded on September 29, 2011.

About SBMLT
Founded in 1996, the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust (SBMLT) is dedicated to the acquisition and protection of open space and wildlife habitat primarily within the San Bernardino National Forest. SBMLT has protected more than 9,000 acres of land in the San Gabriel, San Bernardino and Cleveland National Forests. More information at: www.sbmlt.net

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