Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove is scaling back an order to set aside 77,000 acres of older forests, citing financial strain and a lack of authority to carry out his vision.
In a news conference Thursday morning, Upthegrove said the older forests, sometimes called legacy forests," that his agency could conserve in the near term amounted instead to about 55,000 acres. Upthegrove said the reduction in acreage is largely due to mapping errors.
Even so, those 55,000 acres could yet again be on the chopping block. Upthegrove said his agency would need to alter course on conservation plans and would need to secure additional funding and authority from the Legislature to manage those lands differently, Upthegrove said.
These "structurally complex forests" are defined by gaps in canopy and diverse species growing below. The forests were generally harvested in the past century between the 1920s and post-World War II, but now are close to being fully mature.
Upthegrove's announcement illustrates the complexities for politicians to bring campaign promises to fruition. The structural barriers he found himself bumping up against have been in place since statehood. Amid a state budget crunch, his asks seemed further from reality.
"I have been incredibly frustrated and deeply disappointed that reality couldn't yet meet my vision," Upthegrove said Thursday. "But my vision was always bigger than managing 77,000 acres differently. My vision and my goal was to change the system."
Upthegrove campaigned on protecting the 77,000 acres of older forests. Then, last summer, conservation groups celebrated his announcement of an order to protect these forests. But soon after, some advocates pointed to errors in the agency’s maps, and timber industry officials were quick to criticize the risk of pulling back lands from harvest.
Independent of any conservation efforts, the state Department of Natural Resources’ forestry accounts are headed into the red, Upthegrove said. “Accounts I am required by law to keep in the black.”
He said the problem predates his administration, and that for more than a decade, revenue from timber sales hasn’t kept pace with rising costs.
The agency's forestry operations are funded almost entirely through the revenue from timber sales, Upthegrove said. But a percent fee for the sales hasn't changed since 2014. DNR will recommend those rates be increased, which would bring in an estimated additional $3 million a year.
Now the plan is to exempt about 55,000 acres from harvest plans through 2030, while DNR works to get the authority to manage them differently. Efforts to expand these conservation opportunities haven’t gained much traction.
"Instead of throwing up my hands and saying, 'Well, we can't do it,' I've identified here are some tools, here are some steps that could allow us to achieve more forest conservation," Upthegrove said.
A third-party review of agency assets in 2021 found DNR was overleveraged in forestry and should seek to diversify the sources of revenue it provides Washington’s schools and local governments.
Upthegrove said the agency is drafting policies to create a conservation easement program and bring it before the Board of Natural Resources for consideration next spring. These easements, he said, would allow tribal nations, public agencies, conservation groups and others to purchase protections for specific forests.
His agency would also seek authority from the Legislature to directly sell carbon credits from state lands and ask for more state funding for opportunities to conserve additional forests, such as the Trust Land Transfer program and Natural Climate Solutions account.
Implementing the new tools, Upthegrove said, would mark the first time in the history of the agency "that we're generating revenue from our forests in ways other than cutting them down."
In the meantime, people have gotten creative. Recently, a grassroots group crowdfunded more than half a million dollars to preserve 29 acres of forest on the Olympic Peninsula, the Washington State Standard reported.
Even though it's not a permanent strategy, Upthegrove said, "there was something sort of magical" about it.
Elizabeth Dunne, a legacy forest advocate and an attorney with the Earth Law Center, said she's encouraged by Upthegrove's commitment to help the agency adapt. It's clear the Legislature needs to step up to save the remaining oldest forests on state lands, she said.
"Our recent successful campaign points out the fact that people will put money towards protecting these forests, and they're certainly worth a lot more standing," said Dunne, who helped protect the forest on the Peninsula.
"Treating nature as a commodity," she continued, noting the rising costs of timber harvests Upthegrove mentioned, "is not a framework for the future.
Without the tools Upthegrove is pursuing, the roughly 55,000 acres could be included in timber sales after 2030. Staff estimates based on similar forests suggest that with no change to state policies, managing these 55,000 acres in ways other than traditional harvest would result in tens of millions of dollars lost.
Material from The Seattle Times archives was used in this report.
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