The Idaho Department of Fish and Game will receive about 900-thousand dollars in a northern Idaho timber sale.
The department says the timber stand near Lake Pend Oreille is landlocked with no public access, and Fish and Game wanted to take advantage of high prices for western red cedar.
Some area residents opposed the timber sale, urging the agency to save the cedar trees. Some of the trees are 80 to 120 years old, and residents wanted Fish and Game to seek an easement across private land so that people could walk to the cedar grove.
But the rebounding U.S. housing market has increased demand for cedar siding and decking, pushing prices to near-record levels.
Fish and Game plans to use the proceeds for wildlife habitat improvements in northern Idaho. (Spokesman-Review)
