Neighbors file lawsuit over Magness Memorial Tree Farm sale process
In their response, the forestry center claims that the Magness property is currently private property. A judge will determine restrictions for how the donated land can now be sold.
SHERWOOD, Ore. — The fate of the 64-acre Magness Memorial Tree Farm in Sherwood, and its ability to be preserved as a wildlife sanctuary, remains up in the air.
On July 28, the Ladd Hill Neighborhood Association (LHNA) filed a lawsuit asking a judge to clarify the use restrictions for the tree farm property, including how the donated land can now be sold.
On September 10, Carole Dinger, co-president of the LHNA, informed the Sherwood Sun that the World Forestry Center is opposing all of the relief requested in the association’s lawsuit and that the association will continue to defend its position.
In their response, the forestry center claims that the Magness property is currently private property and historically has never been open to the public and shall remain private property unless public use is expressly granted by the owner.
In a statement, the LHNA said, “This is obviously a false statement as the property was always open to the public as documented by almost 100 personal letters to the DOJ from people who visited the property over the years expressing what Magness Memorial Tree Farm meant to them.”
The association also noted “There are two signs still on the property regarding the forest trails and public activities that took place there.”
Jules Rogers
The auction prompted the LHNA and members of the community to question if the auction could violate trust law and public access to the land, because the land was donated under legal conditions that the tree farm must be preserved as a wildlife sanctuary.
A concern expressed by a lawyer for the Willamette Law Group, Jesse Buss, claims a buyer could put the sanctuary at risk.
The history of the tree farm dates to 1977 when the wooded area was donated to the Oregon Parks Foundation by Howard and Panzy Magness. It was transferred to the World Forestry Center in Portland.
The minimum price for the park, which has been closed for over five years, was set at $997,500 and offers have been submitted.
According to a press release from the World Forestry Center, “World Forestry Center made the decision to sell Magness Memorial Tree Farm … and is currently offering it exclusively to tax exempt charitable organizations through private sale. Showings are ongoing.”
The statement continues, “This decision follows several years of exploring potential collaborations with conservation and public entities that could have maintained public use of the property … Magness Memorial Tree Farm has long served as a cherished community asset and a demonstration site for sustainable forest management.”
According to the statement, the center determined that it is the right time to transition the properties to their next caretakers, and for the World Forestry Center to dedicate the proceeds to the organization’s core education programming.
The forestry center says the sale will be subject to deed restrictions and be maintained as a woodland management area or as a wildlife sanctuary “for preservation, observation, and study of natural flora and fauna of the region.”
Dinger said the association filed the lawsuit in Clackamas County that allows the courts to define the restrictions on the land, moving forward, to any new owners. The intent is to find out if the World Forestry Center is in any violation.
“Any potential buyers will be made aware of this lawsuit and the restrictions that may be imposed on them should they become the new owners of the property,” Dinger said. “Part of our lawsuit states very clearly that the World Forestry Center doesn’t really have any right to sell the land and that they should be transferring it to the next entity, so we oppose the sale in general.”
Dinger continued, “It is clearly stated in the historical documents that any proceeds from the land should be going to the maintenance and management of the property. The property has fallen into a state of disrepair, so they have not used the proceeds to maintain it. They did log the land, which they said was part of their ongoing efforts to show how to manage a forest in the Pacific Northwest … the proceeds from that logging should have gone back to maintaining the land, which they did not do, and they left it in a state of disrepair and it has only gotten worse since they closed the park, nobody uses it and they have nobody maintaining it.”
Dinger said the World Forestry Center has not responded to Ladd Hill’s lawsuit.
“Hopefully, a court decision will come soon and they will not be able to ignore the Ladd Hill Neighborhood Association’s demand for clarity on restrictions and the legality of selling the land,” she said, adding, the goal of the Ladd Hill Neighborhood Association is to make Magness Memorial Tree Farm safe and accessible to the public and maintained with a caretaker.
The tree farm has meant a lot to the community over the years, according to Dinger.
“We have received almost a hundred testimonies from people of what this park has meant to them in the past,” she said. “Schools would come on field trips to introduce children to nature … we even have children in our home school districts, close by, that don’t get into the woods and get educated about the woods.”
Dinger added, “I reached out to our attorney. He said he has no knowledge as to whether offers were received (on a sale of Magness Memorial) and the Western Forestry Center has not responded to the lawsuit yet, and that might take another month or two” as of September 2.
