Two sections of our Olympic Adventure Trail are now closed to hikers.
Both are found in the Salt Creek watershed. Both are on state Department of Natural Resources land near Joyce.
The “Ode to Joyce” timber sale on Joyce Access Road is made up of Douglas firs, some up to 130 years old, and also includes red cedars and western hemlock.
First logged at the end of the last century, it is a prime example of naturally regenerated systems with extensive wetlands.
The money tree is the big Douglas firs.
An area geologist versed in hydrology and soil is convinced and with whom many concur that surveys used to map this sale shrink wetlands to get at trees that are commercially very valuable.
In violation of habitat conservation plan requirements, which set targets for structurally diverse forest set asides, it continues the “cut now, grow later” policy.
We ask that DNR resurvey the wetlands areas and implement measures to protect them from commercial invasion.
Peter Stedman
Port Angeles