Capital State Forest is one of Washington's largest and most visited state forests. At 95,000 acres, it covers the entirety of the Black Hills, a region that was extensively logged prior to Worl dWar II. Today there are virtually no old growth forests remaining in Capital State Forest, and the DNR is targeting the oldest remaining legacy forests for clear-cut logging. As recently as 2005, 40% of forests in Capital State Forest were naturally regenerated.  Now that number is down to just 8%. Capitol State Forest is now managed entirely for commercial timber production, with just 41 acres of legacy forests formally protected in forest reserves. If current practices continue, virtually all legacy forests in Capitol State Forest will be logged in the next 5 to 10 years.

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The Department of Natural Resources is relying on a conservation strategy that only protects narrow buffers along streams. This is true across western Washington but is especially true in Capital State Forest. These buffers, while they amount to approximately 27% of Capital State Forest, provide very little in the way of habitat for species that rely on mature forests with interior forest conditions. Our mapping suggests that just 15% of the acreage in these stream buffers are over 200 feet away from neighboring plantation forests, clear cuts or unprotected areas that will eventually be clear-cut. This means that the DNR’s current conservation strategy will provide almost no interior forest habitat in the Black Hills. Species that rely on old forests including the marbled murrelet, Pacific fisher, mountain beaver, and innumerable lesser-known species will have very few places to call home.

Luckily, Thurston county is leading the fight to protect our legacy forests, joining the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition as a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the Carrot timber sale and convincing the Board of Natural Resources to pause the auction of half a dozen timber sales until the end of 2024. Likewise multiple community groups and thousands of citizens have mobilized to protect the last remaining legacy forests of capital State Forest, sending thousands of letters to DNR, testifying at public meetings and even participating in nonviolent civil disobedience.

Now, LFDC is working with Thurston County to develop a new vision for Capitol State Forest. We have identified and ground-truthed nearly all remaining legacy forests in Capitol State Forest and have mapped priority restoration zones that, if restored would create larger landscapes of mature forests across the Black Hills. We are currently working with a forestry consultant to analyze the impact of creating these reserves on junior taxing districts, and continue to invest in on-the-ground surveys to ensure that every legacy forest is identified and a plan is created for its protection.