Statewide Actions.
The corporate timber industry put out misinformation
Now, a coalition is pushing back! We are a group of advocates who believe the status quo isn’t good enough – not for our forests and not for rural communities. We seek out innovative solutions to ensure communities don’t have to choose between a healthy environment and funded public services. These are your trust lands, and we are here to help. Read more here.
$83m for carbon sequestration, storage in older forests on state lands
The legislature appropriated $83 million dollars from the Climate Commitment Act’s Natural Climate Solutions to protect older forests on state trust lands over the next biennium. The funds will allow DNR to identify 2,000 acres of older structurally complex, carbon dense forests to remove from planned harvest, ensuring continued habitat, carbon storage, and ecosystem services unique to mature forest ecosystems. The proviso funds acquisition of replacement forestlands in exchange for older forests removed from harvest, to sustain timber supplies and rural economies. Read more here.
Court Upholds DNR’s Authority for Carbon Project on State Lands
Thurston County Superior Court Judge Anne Egeler affirmed that the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has the authority to lease lands for carbon sequestration. Doing so is consistent with the Department’s fiduciary obligations to trust beneficiaries. Conservationist groups welcomed Friday’s ruling. and their responses on this ruling are below.
Washington Conservation Action, Conservation Northwest, and the Olympic Forest Coalition intervened in this case to defend DNR’s leasing decision and to ensure that State law would continue to be interpreted to permit the best use of DNR’s forests. Read more here.
Action by Local Communities and Elected Leaders.
DNR Pauses Wishbone Sale After King County Council Intervenes
More than 100 acres managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources were scheduled to be auctioned for logging in July 2024 with a $1.62 million minimum bid. But DNR hit pause at the last moment, shelving the Wishbone sale of 4.7 million board feet of timber Monday night after environmentalists sued and seven of nine Metropolitan King County Council members shared concerns. Read more here.
Jefferson Commissioners ask DNR to Consider Swap
Jefferson County Commissioners voted to draft a letter concurring with the state Department of Natural Resources’ selection of lands for conservation but asked the department to ensure funding to junior taxing districts will remain intact.
DNR is seeking concurrence from county commissioners as it looks to move 2,000 acres of structurally complex, carbon-dense forests into conservation status, part of the state’s Climate Commitment Act passed last year. That act also included $70 million to purchase replacement lands that can still be worked to support the junior taxing districts that rely on timber sales to fund critical services like fire and schools. Read more here.