In the early 1980s, Harvey Manning invited the newly elected Commissioner of Public Lands, Brian Boyle, on a tour of Tiger Mountain to describe the unique issues that the area faced. As he explored the mountain with members of the Issaquah Alps Club, Boyle learned that user-made trails wove in and out of private land owned by the timber company Weyerhaeuser, the state, and Puget Sound Energy. He then negotiated a deal with Weyerhaeuser to create a land trade that would transfer ownership to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This resulted in the establishment of the 13,500-acre Tiger Mountain State Forest, which the IATC had been advocating for years—a way for the land to be managed in the public interest.