These are your Trust Lands.
Washington state contains some of the most ecologically valuable forests in the world. Although our forests have traditionally been valued for high quality timber, these forests provide a multitude of benefits like clean air and water, healthy streams for salmon, and carbon sequestration. In the race to mitigate the impacts of climate change, forests are one of the most effective ways to store carbon and reduce the impacts of our rapidly changing climate.
The good news: DNR has authority to manage forests for all of these benefits!
In the summer of 2022, the Washington State Supreme Court unanimously ruled in CNW v. Franz that DNR is not required to maximize timber revenue, but has broad discretion how they choose to generate revenue and provide non-monetary benefits for trust beneficiaries and the citizens of Washington.
For information on the ruling, learn more from Conservation Northwest here.
The Washington Department of Natural Resources manages about 2 million acres of forests known as trust lands.
DNR can manage better.
In choosing how to manage forests, the amount and quality of benefits provided are dependent on the health of the forest. Human activity and management practices have a dramatic impact on the health and productivity of our forests.
The management objectives, health, and values provided by different forests varies widely depending upon how it is managed.
Historically, trust lands have been managed to produce timber and generate revenue for state entities, such as public schools and universities, also called ‘trust beneficiaries.’ Trust lands still play an important role in funding the needs of these beneficiaries, including many junior taxing districts.
Timber revenue on trust lands was once the major funding source for beneficiaries, but now is one of the many sources of revenue for some of our most important public institutions and services.
Washington’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the largest non-federal forestland manager in the state.
DNR manages about 2.1 million acres of forests known as trust lands. These trust lands are public lands granted by the federal government to the new state in 1889. Washington’s state constitution indicates “All the public lands granted to the state are held in trust for all the people.”
In 2022, the Washington State Supreme Court issued a ruling affirming that DNR is not required to manage forests solely to produce revenue from harvesting trees for timber.
Although timber revenue is an important consideration, DNR’s mandate is not solely to generate revenue from timber sales. The agency has significant flexibility in how it generates benefits for trust beneficiaries and the public. The Washington State Supreme Court’s 2022 unanimous ruling on CNW v. Franz affirmed that DNR’s mandate is not to manage forested trust lands solely to produce maximum revenue from logging. Instead, the court agreed with environmental groups and community members that DNR has wide authority to manage forests for a range of benefits, such as clean water and carbon storage. DNR must balance legal obligations, public benefit, and benefit (both non-monetary and monetary) for trust beneficiaries.
DNR has taken important steps to meet legal requirements for endangered species, improve stream health, and explore a pilot carbon project. Nevertheless, DNR’s management practices have emphasized timber volume instead of forest health. Environmental groups, community members, and other stakeholders have argued that DNR does not need to manage forests exclusively to make money from timber sales.
The time is now for DNR to shift management strategies to sustain all of these important benefits for the people of Washington. To learn more about climate-smart forest management strategies DNR could adopt see Understanding Climate Smart Forest Management & Opportunities