TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In an unprecedented land exchange by the U.S. Forest Service, the National Forests in Florida recently finalized a land exchange in Columbia, Baker and Union Counties with timber and land company Plum Creek to secure permanent easements for the Florida National Scenic Trail and Florida’s Strategic Intermodal System.

The Colorado State Land Board, U.S. Forest Service, Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority (UERWA) and Eagle County today (5/9) finalized closing on the Eagle Valley Land Exchange. While the exchange agreement was approved by the entities last fall, the closing marks the formal completion of the complex, multi-year effort.

The Bureau of Land Management today conveyed 62.5 acres of BLM land to the City of Glenwood Springs to assist with its South Canyon Landfill expansion.

The Town of Breckenridge Land Exchange was completed in March 2012. This exchange involved two Federal parcels on the White River National Forest in Summit County and two non-Federal parcels on the San Juan National Forest in southwest Colorado.

On behalf of Banded Peak Ranches, WLG Closed the Banded Peal Mineral Exchange in March 2011. The trade was relatively unique in that it dealt with mineral rights only. Involved were 16,176 acres of Federal oil and gas rights within the San Juan National Forest beneath the surface lands owned by three ranches in the headwaters of the Navajo River, Colorado collectively known as Banded Peak.

In exchange for these Federal oil and gas rights, the complete mineral estate owned by Banded Peak Ranches beneath 19,725 acres of lands within the Rio Grande National Forest was conveyed to the United States. This exchange was critical to advancing the conservation purposes of this remarkable landscape.

In July 2010, WLG completed the Taylor River Land Exchange for the Cockrell Trusts, owner of approximately three miles of the Taylor River immediately below Taylor Park Reservoir in Gunnison County, Colorado. Below is a copy of the Forest Service’s News Release.

The Poudre Canyon Land Exchange on the Roosevelt National Forest was completed in November 2010. The Forest Service acquired a major portion of an inholding located within the Congressionally-designated Cache la Poudre Wild and Scenic River and National Scenic Byway corridor. This acquisition provides another public access point to the Cache la Poudre River, which is a heavily used recreation area with few accessible locations for the public, and consolidates National Forest land within an area of the river corridor where few private inholdings exist.

This exchange added 228 acres of land to the Glacier Club, a beautiful mountain resort north of Durango in the San Juan National Forest.

Under the exchange the Forest Service acquired 160 acres at Hermosa Creek west of Durango Mountain Resort. The Forest Service also acquired the 10.33 acre Iron Clad mine claim in the Weminuche Wilderness.

The Snake River Land Exchange was approved by the White River National Forest in 2010. Under this exchange, the historic Chihuahua Townsite in the Peru Creek drainage due east of Keystone, Colorado will be conveyed to the United States. The Chihuahua Townsite was a vibrant mining town in the 1880’s complete with brothels and hangings.

Today it is a high mountain meadow and forest with valuable wetland fens and Peru Creek running through it. The property is also a popular access point to two Colorado Fourteeners; Grays and Torrey Peaks. In exchange the owners of the Chihuahua Townsite will receive approximately 21 acres of National Forest near the River Run Base of the Keystone Resort. This exchange is expected to close in the near future.

On March 31, 2009 the Grizzly Land Exchange on the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota was completed. This exchange consolidated land ownership where Homestake Mining Company’s property is surrounded by Federal lands and Federal lands are surrounded by Homestake’s.

On November 9 the Mammoth Community Facilities Land Exchange (aka "McFlex") in California was completed! As a result of this exchange, 12.5 acres of National Forest within the Town of Mammoth Lakes were conveyed to a variety of agencies providing important community services. These include the Southern Mono Healthcare District (Mammoth Hospital), Mammoth Fire Protection District, Town of Mammoth Lakes, Mono County and the Superior Court. Acquisition of the National Forest parcels was an important step towards enhancement of public services in the community.