Comment: State policy on trust lands strikes right balance
Published 1:30 am Saturday, December 28, 2024
By Nick Smith / For The Herald
For decades, Washington’s state trust lands have been among the most well-managed public lands in the nation, generating funding for schools and other public services while supporting recreation, wildlife habitat, young and old forests, clean water and family-wage jobs in the woods and mills.
Recently, the Washington Board of Natural Resources moved to reaffirm existing policy by approving a resolution ensuring these lands continue to provide these benefits for all the people of Washington in the years to come. The resolution reflects the views of federal and state scientists, biologists and forestry professionals, and maintains the right balance in meeting conservation and economic goals.
State trust lands are managed under a Habitat Conservation Plan developed by state and federal biologists based on science and the habitat needs of wildlife. The habitat plan set aside half of the state trust lands in western Washington from timber harvest, including a large majority of older forests on state trust lands. Over the life of the plan the amount of older forest will significantly increase since half of the lands have been set aside and will continue to age.
The plan anticipated the harvesting of some mature forest stands. In 2019, the DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a conservation strategy for the threatened marbled murrelet, releasing older forest stands deemed unnecessary for the bird’s conservation. This demonstrates that harvesting can coexist with habitat preservation.
This month the Board of Natural Resources approved the resolution reaffirming the intent of its Policy for Sustainable Forests that harvesting mature, structurally complex stands can occur before older-forest targets are fully met, provided these activities align with ecological and economic objectives. This is consistent with the original policy’s language, which emphasizes balanced forest management.
The resolution does not “flip the almost two-decade-old interpretation” of the Policy for Sustainable Forests, as some suggested recently (“New state policy could affect timber sales in Snohomish County,” The Herald, Dec. 16). Anti-forestry groups have pointed to language to incorrectly claim that the agency may not harvest any older forest stands until the agency reaches projections for 10 percent to 15 percent of older forest in each habitat conservation planning unit.
This claim is not supported by the actual language in the Policy for Sustainable Forests or the habitat plan, which projected that DNR would reach the 10 percent to 15 percent older forest projection “over time” and as part of implementing of the habitat plan, rather than it being a binding requirement on DNR’s management in the short term. This view was affirmed in a 2021 letter from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency responsible for negotiating the habitat plan and monitoring compliance.
These same groups have now filed more than a dozen lawsuits challenging DNR timber sales based on this incorrect interpretation, including a challenge to the Stilly Revisited Timber Sale in Snohomish County.
The resolution incorporates existing guidance for the sustainable management of state trust lands and helps set the record straight on the inaccurate claims being made. DNR strives to balance forest conservation with their fiduciary responsibility to generate revenue for schools, counties, and other beneficiaries. Under some of the world’s strictest forest regulations, the agency continues to manage forests in compliance with the habitat plan and its fiduciary duties.
Further, sustainable timber harvests on state trust lands do not undermine climate goals. While older forests store more carbon, active management — including timber harvesting — can enhance forest health and resilience, improving carbon sequestration over time. Thoughtful management of structurally complex stands mitigates risks like wildfires, which can release significant carbon stores.
State trust also provide Washington-made wood products that store carbon and reduce our dependence on foreign imports and more energy-intensive building materials like concrete and steel. Balanced policies, such as the resolution approved by the board in December, ensure the continued science-based management of state trust lands that support funding for public services while providing many other benefits.
Nick Smith is public affairs director for the American Forest Resource Council, representing Washington’s forest sector, which depends on timber management on state trust lands.
