Dear Commissioner Upthegrove:

Thank you for your commitment to protecting our legacy forests. In March of 2021, former Commissioner Hilary Franz made a promise to evaluate “alternative uses to logging, including biodiversity, carbon storage, water quality, and recreation” for state forests originating prior to 1900.  The very next year, she broke that promise by ending the moratorium and releasing all of these forests for commercial harvest.  Shortly thereafter, timber sales that had been on hold, such as Ode to Joyce and On the Line, were allowed to move forward, destroying thousands of acres of the oldest remaining lowland legacy forests in Western Washington.

Meanwhile, DNR management staff promoted the false assertion that half of all state forestlands have been set aside for conservation, and that storing carbon in manufactured wood products is an effective way to mitigate climate change.  Tree planting may enhance carbon sequestration and storage on barren or fallow lands, but logging older, native forests releases far more carbon into the atmosphere over time than is stored in lumber and plywood.

Franz acknowledged during her testimony to the Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources, and Parks Committee last December of 2022 that there is a need to manage our state forestlands to be more resilient to climate change, drought, and wildfires; and that there is a growing concern in many communities that DNR is not doing enough to protect wildlife habitat and water quality.  The best way to address these concerns is to protect our oldest, most biologically diverse and carbon dense forests.

​​

In October of 2022, DNR published maps of proposed forested parcels to be considered for protection as part of the Carbon Project, which included close to 4,000 acres of legacy forests.  It is long past time to end the senseless destruction of our precious and rapidly disappearing lowland legacy forests.  These forests are irreplaceable, and must be protected.  We urge you to exercise your authority as Public Lands Commissioner to finally implement the Carbon Project, which will protect our publicly owned legacy forests while providing an alternative source of revenue for DNR and the taxing districts.