During the November 5 general election voters will decide who will be the next Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands, the head of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The winner of that office will be crucial in the fight to protect Legacy Forest in our local Capitol State Forest. The two contenders are Dave Upthegrove and Jaime Herrera-Beutler.
Democrat Dave Upthegrove has pledged on his first day in office to put a moratorium on cutting state lands with Legacy Forest. Dave sees this as a climate protection action. Throughout his campaign he has not taken funds from timber companies. He is endorsed by all major and many smaller environmental groups.
In contrast, his opponent Republican Jaime Herrara-Butler has a 14% (F+) lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters. She has been well-funded by timber interests since the end of the August primary. She atacks Upthegrove’s support for Legacy Forests by referring to outdated science that incorrectly says that the Legacy Forest is dying and a fire hazard.
Benefits of Legacy Forest
Legacy Forest is essentially second-growth forest that regenerated from logging hand cuts between the turn of the 19th century and 1945. The forest understory was never removed. When the Legacy Forest regenerated, enough of the understory plants and supporting mycelium networks remained to reproduce the original flora and fauna. This original ecosystem is what existed in forests before white settlement and before massive logging. Unlike plantation forests, Legacy Forest is biologically diverse habitat for endangered plant and animal species–and for many common creatures.
In contrast to logging practices before 1945, DNR’s logging contractors currently use heavy bulldozers that compact the soil. After clear-cutting the trees, they tear out even the stumps, and they spray poison everywhere so plants won’t “compete” with newly planted saplings. They make it so the natural ecosystem of the Northwest will never return in those logging parcels. It is irrepairable damage.
But the worst is the effect of current forest practices on climate damage. New science (which DNR refuses to interface with) shows that older trees are the most efficient at carbon drawdown and storage. It takes at least 30 years for most trees to become good at this. Studies show that 50% of all the sequestration is done by the biggest 1 to 2% of trees…in other words the ones in Legacy Forest.
DNR targets harvest of Legacy Forests
Despite the benefits of Legacy Forest, since May 2022 DNR has particularly targeted Legacy Forest parcels instead of more recently planted tree plantations. DNR has approved more than 60% of each month’s cuts, and sometimes as much as 80%, in these Legacy Forests.
Thurston County has led the way in opposition to this preference to log DNR’s Legacy Forests. While most of Capitol State Forest was turned into plantation forest long ago, formerly 7%–and now 4%–still remain Legacy.
For 2.5 years conservation advocates have given monthly testimony before the Board of Natural Resources, the state commission that decides which DNR parcels will be cut. They have asked DNR NOT to log the last remaining Legacy Forest parcels in the Capitol State Forest.
Over the past 2 years the Thurston County Commissioners have written and met with DNR many times, always asking for all Legacy Forests to be saved, and sometimes asking for preservation of specific parcels. Even after the Thurston County Commission expanded from three to five commissioners last year, except for the last letter, these requests were unanimous and bipartisan.
DNR extended an invitation 1.5 years ago to have a dialogue with the County on management of the Capitol State Forest. However, DNR has been slow to engage, and when doing so, usually provided slides shows that consumed all the meeting time and did not allow time for discussion. Questions from the county commissioners have gone unanswered within meetings and commissioners’ phone calls have also gone unanswered. DNR has communicated consistently an opposition or resistance to all kinds of options for logging DNR parcels that other counties have been allowed to pursue.
Thurston County Commissioners ask for a Reprieve
Early in 2024 a series of tied votes took place in the Board of Natural Resources about two parcels within the Capitol State Forest: Carrots and Cabbage Patch. (DNR hands out these nonsensical names.) The BNR was tied about whether to grant Thurston County’s request not to cut them. Then a vote passed to put Cabbage Patch aside and give Thurston County a chance to come up with a “plan” for how it would manage its lands and ensure the DNR land beneficiaries still receive profits from the logging. The beneficiaries of DNR logging are Thurston County and the junior taxing districts: schools, fire departments and libraries. Thurston County was given till Oct 1, 2024, to create the plan.
On Sept 26, 2024, the Thurston County Commissioners passed a letter with their response. The county noted that by delving into numbers that had come from DNR it is clear that it is possible to cut enough plantation forest (in addition to what was already planned) to be able to leave standing the Legacy Forest parcels and meet DNR’s goals for board feet of lumber. The County Commissioners stated that they did not have access to the numbers that would allow a proposal of specific financial details, but enough data existed to see that the beneficiaries could receive essentially the same amount of money.
The letter further asked for a task force to be formed consisting of the Thurston County Commissioners, DNR staff, and stakeholders from the community to further develop the plan. The commissioners also asked for more time beyond October in order to wait for the outcome of the November 5 election. That election includes a vote on Initiative 2117 that repeals the Cap-and-Trade program of the Climate Commitment Act. The state legislature has awarded DNR enough money to save one parcel in our county if the Climate Commitment Act survives the initiative.
Meanwhile in June 2024 a lobby group for the timber industry reached out to the Thurston County school districts to say that the county was preventing them from getting money from the DNR timber sales. The truth is that if DNR had responded to two years of requests by the county commissioners, there could already be plantation cuts producing this income. The commissioners had to explain this to the school districts and to ask for time to try to work out a plan since cutting Legacy Forests has grave climate impacts for children’s future.
Current Perilous Situation for Legacy Forest in the Capitol State Forest
Due to SEPA time frames for scheduled sales DNR has already posted its intent to vote in their November meeting on sales of the Capitol State Forest parcels Cabbage Patch, Carrots, and Juneau (a parcel the County got put aside in March 2023). It is presumed that at their November 4, 2024, meeting the Board of Natural Resources will discuss the letter from Thurston County. Presumably they will decide whether to grant any more time and whether to create the requested task force. However, given the listing of the 3 sales it is no longer clear if they will even discuss it.
Current DNR plans would have only two legacy parcels left in the Capitol State Forest by 8 years from now.
Actions You Can Take
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Vote for Dave Upthegrove for Public Lands Commissioner
Literally whoever wins the election for Public Lands Commissioner will determine if Capitol State Forest has any Legacy forest four years from now…but also actually whether we have any statewide. The voters must decide if they still want to be the Evergreen State.
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Write the Board of Natural Resources at bnr@dnr.wa.gov
Tell them to have an honest and open minded discussion of the Thurston plan and remove sales from November agenda till that happens.
You can use this link to email to them:
https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/38646?ref=2130
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Vote NO on Initiative 2117
From the League of Women Voters’ website: “Initiative 2117 would repeal the Climate Commitment Act (CCA, SB 5126 of 2021), and prohibit all state agencies, counties, and cities from implementing any type of carbon tax credit trading. The current CCA by placing a fee on pollution, has raised $2 billion so far. That funding helps more Washingtonians switch to climate-friendly options for their homes, schools, businesses, vehicles, and more.”
Lynn Fitz-Hugh founded and works with Restoring Earth Connection. For over 16 years, she has worked in various capacities fighting climate change.