Teanaway Community Forest

Teanaway Community Forest
Map showing the location of Teanaway Community Forest
Map showing the location of Teanaway Community Forest
Nearest cityCle Elum, Washington
Coordinates47°15′25″N 120°53′31″W / 47.25694°N 120.89194°W / 47.25694; -120.89194 (Teanaway Community Forest)[1]
Area50,272 acres (203.44 km2)
CreatedSeptember 2013
AdministratorWashington State Department of Natural Resources
www.dnr.wa.gov/Teanaway

Teanaway Community Forest is a state owned 50,272-acre (20,344 ha) dual-use community forest and recreation area in the central Washington Cascades near Cle Elum. It was created through a public-private partnership involving Forterra and both Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Washington Department of Natural Resources acting towards the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan. When the land purchase from a private timber company was made in September 2013, it was described as the single largest transaction in Washington state in the past 45 years.[2] The forest is about the size of the city of Seattle, 65 miles (105 km) to the west.[3]

DNR managers have requested the state legislature to pay for state-owned land physically within the community forest's boundaries to be administratively transferred into the community forest. Unless it is transferred, the trust lands must be logged to raise funds for Washington schools.[4]