Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has come to the rescue of a conservation group raising money to save 25,000 acres of land and timber in central Washington's Loomis Forest.

Allen contributed $3.4 million to the cause after the state of Washington told the Loomis Forest Fund the $13 million they had raised to save the lynx habitat wouldn't be enough to preserve the land, according to MSNBC reports.

The group raised the $13 million from 5,100 donors in an effort to permanently preserve the forest's two timber tracts from road-building and logging, MSNBC reports.

When regulators assessed the value of the land, they determined that its value had risen to $16.5 million during the year the fundraising effort had taken place.

State regulators told the conservation group the initial price of $13 million was only a preliminary figure, MSNBC reports. They gave the group another three months to raise the money.

Thanks to the $3.4 million gift from the Paul G. Allen Forest Protection Foundation, it only took two weeks.

Allen was approached earlier about donating to the cause, but he declined since the group was nearing their $13-million goal. The Allen family and its board were happy to donate the additional money after the price went up, a foundation spokesperson stated.

MSNBC reports that the forest is home to several rare species, include what is believed to be the "healthiest population of lynx surviving south of Canada."

This isn't the first time that the Loomis Forest Fund's effort to protect the forest was saved by a last-minute gift. In July, the fund was up against the deadline to raise the initial $13 million that was thought to be enough to conserve the land. An anonymous donation of $1.5 million helped the group reach that initial goal.

The Paul G. Allen Forest Protection Foundation was founded in 1997 and has already given away $18.7 million. This gift to the Loomis fund is the largest gift in the history of the foundation -- one of six foundations set up by Allen.