Clallam County is joining other Washington timber counties to oppose a lawsuit that could halt logging on state trust lands and reduce county revenues.
County commissioners voted Tuesday to enter the lawsuit on the side of the state Department of Natural Resources, which is under scrutiny by an environmental group for allegedly not considering the cumulative effects of logging.
The Washington Environmental Council has asked for a three-year injunction on logging of state trust forests that, if granted, could suspend millions of dollars worth of timber revenue that annually fund rural school districts, hospitals, volunteer fire departments and governments.
“We think to halt all timber harvesting for three years would be way too dangerous for local government,” Commissioner Mike Doherty, D-Port Angeles, said Tuesday.
The suit, filed July 11 in King County Superior Court, alleges Natural Resources violated the State Environmental Policy Act and other policies in selling timber and reviewing the sustained yield analysis.
The Washington Environmental Council says Natural Resources needs to update its 10-year Forest Resource Plan, which guides logging policy.
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The rest of the story appears in the Wednesday Peninsula Daily News Clallam County edition. Click on SUBSCRIBE to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.