DONATIONS SOUGHT TO BUY 12 ACRES AT CAPE HORN FOR HIKING TRAIL

Saturday, February 5, 2000
By ERIK ROBINSON, Columbian staff writer

The purchase of the 12-acre property would include some of the most spectacular vistas in the Columbia River Gorge, said Glenn Lamb, executive director of the Columbia Land Trust. The property is along a forested ridge with views to the north along the Columbia River.

    "It's impossible to complete the trail without it," said Dan Huntington, a Camas real estate agent who has spearheaded the acquisition effort for the land trust.

    Lamb said the land trust wants to raise $77,625 by March 15 to secure a section of the Cape Horn Trail. He said the purchase option expires in late April, and he wants to have the money in hand by mid-March.

    The trust used a donation in May of last year from Broughton and Mary Bishop to buy the right to purchase the 12 acres. The option was purchased for $10,000 from a landowner who Lamb declined to disclose.

    So far, the organization has raised $27,325 to acquire the property.

    The private money raised by the land trust would be combined with $130,000 already allocated by the U.S. Forest Service to buy the property, Lamb said. Though the bulk of the money would be the purchase price, Lamb said the money also would pay costs related to surveying and appraising the property.

    "We're hoping most of all for a white knight to come forward and match half of what what we raise," Huntington said.

    The trail would be constructed by the Forest Service and the land deeded over to the federal government.

    Huntington said the spectacular views and proximity to Vancouver and Portland carries the potential of the trail becoming a major tourist site.

    "It's likely to become one of the most visited spots on the Washington side of the Gorge," he said.

    The Forest Service would need to acquire a second piece of private property to connect the land it already owns between Cape Horn and Washougal.

    That second piece of property is owned by Vancouver insurance broker Dave Cannard, who bought 68 view acres in the Cape Horn area in 1996 with the expectation that the Forest Service or the state of Washington would acquire the property for a park. But negotiations with the Forest Service came to a halt when agency appraisers rejected the appraisal Cannard provided and accused him of trying to profit excessively from the transaction.

    Anyone who wants to donate funds to the property should call the Columbia Land Trust at 360-696-0131