Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Nature Conservancy will announce Thursday the purchase of 1700 acres of the iconic Table Rocks near Medford. The group says it paid close to $4 million to private owners for the land. Ethan Lindsey reports.

The private Wood Family Trust held the final piece in the Table Rocks land puzzle.

The sale will turn over control of the summit of Upper Table Rock to the Nature Conservancy.

In total, close to 5000 acres will be protected around Table Rocks. Supporters say that will advance habitat and ecological restoration efforts on the land.

Jim Whittington is with the local Bureau of Land Management office.

Jim Whittington: “What’s cool about the Table Rocks is that it's so close to so many people. And you will see lots of people hiking. And so what we want to do is keep that going, but also mark off some areas to allow the ecology to recover.”

Whittington says the Nature Conservancy already works with public agencies in the region. Both sides say they expect no problems cooperating in the management and protection of the site.