PORT ANGELES — Tree advocates have been partially successful in postponing the logging of forests owned by the state Department of Natural Resources and located within the Elwha watershed region, and they plan to continue their efforts until they achieve full success.
At the November Board of Natural Resources (BNR) meeting, Hilary Franz, state commissioner of public lands and chair of the board, placed a pause on the Elwha Watershed “Alley Cat” timber sale.
During the meeting, Franz said she pulled the sale from the agenda due to a conversation she had with Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe chairwoman Frances Charles and the desire to have “government-to-government consideration.”
Despite advocacy efforts that included a petition with more than 300 signatures and a letter-writing campaign that generated more than 6,165 letters, the six-person BNR approved two other Elwha watershed sales, “Tree Well” and “Parched.”
Individuals against those sales said that the mature, structurally complex forests — termed “legacy forests” — were essential for protecting the Elwha watershed and local biodiversity, mitigating climate change and becoming the “old growth forests of tomorrow.”
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) disagreed.
Franz said the DNR follows “climate smart forest stewardship practices” approved by environmental organizations that include “exemplary” leave tree strategies, longer harvest rotations, planting a diversity of native tree species, large wetland and riparian buffers that are “over twice what is required by state forest practice rules,” permanent preservation of all old growth and more.
Advocacy efforts are not all in favor of canceling the timber sales — some individuals asked that they be approved, given the DNR’s fiduciary responsibility to junior taxing districts.
The three Elwha watershed sales were expected to bring in about $3.7 million, split between 10 taxing districts. The pause of the 139-acre Alley Cat sale will postpone the collection and distribution of at least $765,131, according to DNR documents.
During public comment, Marty Brewer, the superintendent of the Port Angeles School District, said the timber sales bring “critical revenue” to the school district, especially given inadequate state funding for programs like special education.
Following board approval, Tree Well and Parched, which make up about 586 acres, are scheduled to be auctioned in December. Due to DNR logging practices, however, only about 385 of those acres will be harvested.
Although the BNR approved the sales, not all commissioners were in consensus. Both Jim Cahill and Chris Reykdal made unsuccessful motions to remove legacy forest sales from the November agenda, including the sales in Clallam County.
Cahill said the sales should be postponed due to a slew of decisions that were up in the air at that point: who the new commissioner of public lands would be, what would happen to the state’s Climate Commitment Act and more.
Additionally, Reykdal said the BNR should listen to the input from elected officials, tribal leaders, city council and citizens regarding the timber sales.
“When they say they want to slow down, we should honor that,” he said.
Commissioner Lisa Janicki noted that the BNR also had received requests from school districts, other junior taxing districts and more which asked that the sales be approved.
Although the motions in favor of postponing the sales were unsuccessful, environmental groups said they will continue their advocacy. Elizabeth Dunne, director of legal advocacy at the Earth Law Center (ELC), said the ELC will continue the battle in court.
“The other two sales continue to be of significant concern, and we will be filing a legal action to challenge those timber sales,” Dunne said.
The legal challenge will combine a few areas, including concerns with the DNR’s environmental checklist, its herbicide application and its failure to study the hydrological impacts that logging would have on the Elwha watershed, Dunne said.
Tashena Francis, a member of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (LEKT), said she will be gathering signatures for a petition to protect Tree Well and Parched — for her children.
Other groups are joining the advocacy, as well. On Saturday, the Clallam County Democrats passed a resolution calling for the Commissioner of Public Lands and the state Legislature to protect legacy forests in the Elwha watershed, including Tree Well and Parched, Dunne said.
Advocates are hoping the advocacy and legal efforts will move the BNR to cancel, or at least stall, the sales before they are auctioned off in December.
“Once they remove them, they’re gone,” Francis said.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
