On Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, the Board of Natural Resources authorized the auction of 15 forest stands, including three within Thurston County's forests.
Tempers flared during the board meeting as several members of the audience made disapproving remarks while Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staffers presented the sales to the board.
Just before the board started deliberating on its vote, one person from the audience was heard shouting.
“You will be tried by the highest court. You will be found guilty for this decision,” they yelled.
Several members of the boardroom audience believed that the majority of the forest stands that the board was voting to sell for timber were “legacy forests,” which they believed were vital to reaching the Department of Natural Resources’ old-growth targets.
When the board’s discussion on the topic started, board member Lisa Janicki made a motion to approve all the sales, as recommended by DNR staff.
“I was very supportive earlier this spring when [the Thurston Board of County Commissioners] were concerned. It was clear that they wanted to create a forest that was managed differently,” Janicki said as she explained.
“This group gave until October 1 to come up with a plan. A number of counties came up with various plans, but Thurston was not able to articulate any real clear path,” Janicki added, referring to when they gave the Thurston County Commissioners a directive to propose a plan for the management of Capitol State Forest while ensuring that trust beneficiaries are made whole monetarily.
The county did not produce the plan by the deadline but proposed deferring the harvest from 4,677 acres of Capitol State Forest until a stakeholder workgroup can develop a long-term plan. See related stories.
The board only got to vote on the original motion after two failed attempts to amend it.
Board member Jim Cahill motioned to amend Janicki’s motion by removing ten timber sales, including the three proposed forest stands in Thurston County: Juneau, Cabbage Patch, and Carrot.
The other timber sales Cahill wanted to remove were Parched and Tree Well in Clallam County, Last Crocker Sorts in Jefferson County, Sylvan Pearl in King County, Luna Tix and Four Score in Lewis County, and Shift the Paradigm in Pacific County.
“It seems inappropriate to do these sales on election day when we're still waiting to find out who's the Commissioner of Public Lands,” Cahill said.
Cahill added that, like Janicki, he is “extremely disappointed” that Thurston County was not able to come up with a plan but wants the DNR and the county to “take a breath” and discuss it further.
Cahill admitted that he does not believe they can protect all of the 4,677 acres that Thurston County seeks to protect but believes there are ways to make it happen for some of those forestlands.
Board member Chris Reykdal expressed support for removing the ten timber sales.
“I continue to be troubled that the concept that we keep working under is: whatever is old growth, we're going to keep, and everything else is available. I just don't think that makes sense. There's this window that every time something approaches old growth — 80 to 120 years — it's this urgency to harvest it,” Reykdal said.
“We can take control of this vote right now and be the board in control of this dialog over the next three to six months. Or we can keep ramming these through and every one of these is going to be litigated, and they're not going to be harvested anyways in time, and we're going to be right back here under a new commissioner,” Reykdal said.
When the vote came, only board members Cahill and Reykdal voted in favor of the amended motion.
Board members Hilary Franz, Janicki, Wendy Powers-Schilling, and Clare Ryan voted nay.
Reykdal moved to amend the original motion again but to remove all sales in Thurston, Clallam, and Jefferson counties.
Reykdal explained that these are three counties whose elected officials and tribal leaders expressed concern about the sales.
Janicki commented that they also received communications from school districts requesting sales approval.
Reykdal’s motion also failed, as only he and Cahill voted in favor.
Without any other board members putting forth additional amendments to the original motion, the board members voted on the original motion.
Only Cahill and Reykdal voted against the motion to approve all the sales, while all the others voted to pass it.
A board meeting recording showed that several people left the room after the decision was made. The audience made unintelligible comments, but DNR muted the Zoom meeting as people left.
Reykdal was also seen leaving the board members and not returning afterward.
The three timber sales in Thurston County — Juneau, Cabbage Patch, and Carrot — collectively represent 430 acres of forestland, according to DNR staff’s briefing to its board.
“Variable retention harvest” will be employed in the timber harvesting, which means that ecologically important trees and features on the forest stands will be retained. The three forest stands were originally 748 acres, but with the areas removed for conservation, they decreased to 430 acres.
DNR estimates that the sale of the three forest stands will generate 5,784 MBF (thousand board feet) with an average stumpage value of $416 per MBF.
The three timber sales are expected to generate $2.6 million in revenue for Thurston County, with Olympia and Rochester school districts among the most significant beneficiaries.
DNR added that the harvest of the three forest stands will fund the maintenance of 25 miles of forest roads, including the improvement or construction of 47 culverts to improve fish passage.
According to its staff's briefing, DNR is required to improve one of those culverts by September 2027.
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JHermes
Planting new trees won't bring back the older, more diverse forests.
Thursday, November 7 Report this
2theroots
It was extremely disingenuous of both Janicki and Cahill to say (and I am disappointed that the JOLT reported it without contradiction) that Thurston County did not come up with a plan. INDEED Thurston County by the deadline of Oct 1st brought a plan that showed that there is enough plantation forest in Capitol forest to be cut instead of the Plantation forest and meet the financial needs of the jr taxing district. One school (not all) wrote saying they still wanted it cut. DNR staff instead of being non partisan public servants had reached out and stirred up the Jr. Taxing districts soliciting their disapproval. It was shocking that Franz did not even put a discussion of the Thurston County's plan on the agenda. Thurston County itself in their letter proposing this said they had not been able to make a plan because they were acknowledging that what they had was more of a blueprint because they needed the input of DNR in the form of a requested workgroup, if they were to make an actual plan.
Thursday, November 7 Report this
TurninginTumwater
I understand some folks just like the idea of not cutting all areas with bigger and older conifers that are too young to be protected as "old growth." These so called "legacy forests" now have no special value as wildlife habitats, nor require extra level of environmental protection outside of the State's obligatory Habitat Conservation Plan for State Forest Trust Lands. I note that by following this HCP for the past 30 yrs, the state has shown a high level of conservation that exceeds any other state.
https://www.dnr.wa.gov/programs-and-services/forest-resources/habitat-conservation-state-trust-lands
I have yet to hear a credible reason to give extra protection to these middle-age conifer stands.
Friday, November 8 Report this
hptrillium
Legacy trees are 80-100 years old and more. They sequester and store carbon from the atmosphere for long periods of time. Newly planted trees will take decades before they store as much as the older trees. Legacy trees reduce flooding and erosion risk by holding water in the soil from heavy rains. They promote biodiversity and provide habitat for wildlife.
Because we are in a global warming crisis selling off parcels that include these legacy trees must stop. There are many other parcels with younger trees that can be sold. Mature trees are worth so much more alive than cut down. We need climate mitigation now. We can't wait 80 to 100 years for new trees to reach the size of the ones we have now. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said "We are teetering on a planetary tightrop. Either leaders bridge the emissions gap, or we plunge headlong into climate disaster."
The state legislature has invested $2.5 million dollars in the DNR Forest Carbon and Management Workgroup, to examine potential alternative management that would allow for saving older forests without harming wood supply and providing revenue for beneficiaries. The group will have their recommendations in June 2025, a reason to wait on these legacy forest sales and use the results in future decisions.
Finally with Dave Upthegrove's leadership as the new Lands Commissioner these trees will be saved.
Friday, November 8 Report this
Thurston
Why does the board allow for shouting and disrespect in their meetings? Any other meeting the "environmental" activists would have been removed and not allowed to return.
It's amazing that Reykdal gets elected every four years... his actions on this board show he is hell-bent on defunding the schools.
Friday, November 8 Report this
DudeInOlympia
Pathetic. Living in the twilight zone. You couldn't rebuild those forests for 25 million let alone the pathetic 2.5 million price for 5,800 board feet of wood. We are better than this
Friday, November 8 Report this
MichaelWilson
Is the Jolt trying not to offend the powers that be by not indicating the possible timber industry ties of the parties involved, including the DNR? And wouldn't it be important to note the Catch-22 set up in the law that pits the forests against the schools? The recent Federal election was a reprimand, which seldom occur, against the hypocrisy often seen in situations such as this. In a state where 85% of the land is owned by a timber company, cutting ANY remaining old growth is unconscionable and an affront to nature and all future generations, including the ones that are currently in our schools. Who set up this conflict? THAT would be NEWS.
I'm certainly NOT saying this hypocrisy will not continue under new administrations, but we do have a moment in which this hypocrisy can and should be exposed: that nature and the people will be the losers against a wealthy few that constitute the financial aristocracy of this so-called New World. The American Dream has become a nightmare.
Friday, November 8 Report this
Southsoundguy
Trees grow back. It won't be during your lifetime, that is just how reality works.
Friday, November 8 Report this
JW
If only the leftists could get this worked up about rampant crime, drugs, and renegade judges making our community less safe as they about a bunch of trees.
Friday, November 8 Report this
MichaelWilson
Unfortunately, most readers cannot see the forests for the trees. So, they think forests are just collections of trees, like so many carrots. But, they aren't the same thing at all. That would be like thinking that Thurston County was just a collection of shops and residences, or something like that. It's the ultimate belief in separation, like "every man for himself," or something like that. But, even Darwin concluded that cooperation was more evolutionary than competition.
Saturday, November 9 Report this
ViaLocal
Would the sustainable products made from these trees absorb carbon the way the forests they came from would have? Nope.
Tuesday, November 12 Report this