Hood River County Commissioners approved the purchase of just over 2,887 acres of forestland in the County from SDS Lumber.  It’s the County’s first major forest land purchase in a decade, using part of the proceeds from the sale of holdings in Grant and Umatilla counties to make the $4,620,000 purchase.  The sale includes seven different parcels, the largest involving 1,520 acres near Upper Pinemont Drive.  County Administrator David Meriwether says the lands include a good mix of timber, and are adjacent to other County holdings.  County Commission Chair Ron Rivers noted the purchase completes a circle, replacing a property exchange dating back nearly 15 years when the County exchanged over one-thousand acres of County-owned forestland to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, which led to the purchase of the Eastern Oregon properties.  Rivers adds they still intend to reinvest the remaining proceeds from the Eastern Oregon land sale in the County forest.