Many older forests spared by Washington state order. Others to be logged

An executive order by Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove has put 77,000 acres of older forests off-limits to logging.

“What we're doing today is the largest forest conservation action in Washington in a generation,” Upthegrove said at a press conference at Tiger Mountain State Forest in Issaquah on Tuesday. “This is the kind of forest we want future generations to inherit.”

State officials call the woods to be protected “structurally complex forests,” referring to habitat elements like gaps in the canopy that allow to sunlight to reach the forest floor to support a variety of understory vegetation. Recently planted forests usually lack such elements, while old-growth or ancient forests are rich in them.

Some local activists call these old-but-not-quite-old-growth stands “legacy forests,” and have resorted to protests, including tree sits and road blockades, to stop them from being sawed down.

Upthegrove’s order would also allow logging to go forward on 29,000 acres of those almost-old-growth forests.

Some environmental groups praised the move, while others say it greenlights too much logging of the best remaining older forests.

“It's a big win for people and nature,” Washington Conservation Action CEO Alyssa Macy said, following Upthegrove to the press-conference podium.

Upthegrove called it “the start of a new era of forest management in Washington” and said “every acre of our older forests” would be protected.

“That’s not true,” activist Stephen Kropp with the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition said in a telephone interview. “Contrary to what Upthegrove said during the press conference, this executive order would greenlight clearcut logging of thousands of acres of many of the oldest remaining structurally complex forests in western Washington.”

“It’s a very misleading and confusing and amorphous term, ‘older forest,’” Kropp added.

Activists and state officials both say that the “legacy” or “structurally complex” forests, however they’re defined, are not as old as the Northwest’s iconic “old-growth” or “ancient” forests but are nearly as valuable for wildlife habitat and keeping heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

In January, on his first day in office, Upthegrove placed a pause on logging on Department of Natural Resources land.

Two current timber sales in the Elwha River basin remain on pause, while close to 30 others on state land can now proceed.

Forest activists still hope to save some of areas slated to be logged over the next five years.

Activists with the Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition say DNR’s “Doc Holliday” timber sale is going forward, with logging-road construction for the sale already begun.

“I just spoke with the owner of the logging company yesterday and he is delaying logging as long as possible around the campground and the rare coastal Sitka spruce forest, but the equipment is out there and we don't have much time,” Earth Law Center attorney Elizabeth Dunne said by email.

State officials say that timber harvest levels — and the revenue that goes to schools and counties — would be largely unaffected by the executive order.

Lobbyist Heath Heikkila with the American Forest Resource Council said the department would be unable to earn as much money for the schools and counties that now rely on state timber sales for much of their budgets. The council represents the timber industry in six western states.

“You simply can't take out 12% of your land base as a timber manager and then maintain the same harvest levels,” Heikkila said. “If you do, you will overharvest.”

Upthegrove said his agency would also generate revenue from its protected forests by selling carbon credits and other products based on the ecological services the forests provide.

“The value in these markets isn't anywhere close to timber,” Heikkila said.

Heikkila said the Commissioner of Public Lands lacks the authority to set state trust lands off-limits to logging, and a legal challenge was likely.

According to agency officials, the Department of Natural Resources has 346,000 acres of structurally complex forests on the 2.4 million acres of forestland it manages.