Sutherland

State lands commissioner

DNR timber event hears from all sides

Advocates for environment, recreation, logging speak

JOHN DODGE, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Friday, March 22, 2002

LACEY -- A diverse public urged state forestry officials Thursday night to manage state timberlands for an array of uses in the decades to come.

Advocates for increased logging, stronger environmental protection and more recreational opportunities all showed up at the sixth and final meeting the state Department of Natural Resources conducted this month around Western Washington.

DNR wanted to gather public comments on a long-range timber harvest plan for 1.2 million acres of forests on the state's west side.

Harvest calculation

DNR is in the early stages of developing a new harvest calculation to guide how the agency manages those lands.

Specific options will be available for further review in the summer, and a final decision by the state Board of Natural Resources is more than a year away.

The end product will dictate such things as the average age of trees at harvest, the fate of the state's remaining old-growth trees and the management of vast tracts of state land, including the 90,000-acre Capitol Forest near Olympia.

The goal is to find the right mix of economic, social and environmental features in the harvest plan, state Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland told the 80 or so in attendance.

"We're trying to find out what the balance is," Sutherland said.

Annual harvest levels have ranged from 400 million to nearly 1 billion board feet on the state's 2.1 million acres of timberland during the past 40 years.

It takes about 10,000 board feet of lumber to build a typical home.

The public aired a variety of views, which were recorded by DNR employees for use in drafting an environmental impact statement for the project.

Ken Miller of Olympia urged the state agency to adopt a plan that is flexible and can respond to changing conditions, such as natural disasters and fluctuating timber markets.

Ron Dickinson of Tenino, a frequent visitor to Capitol Forest, asked that it remain a multiple-use forest.

"Continue to make it work for recreation, forestry and the animals," he said. "You're doing a good job."

Members of the timber industry lobbied for the agency to include timber for harvest that was offered for sale in the past but never sold for various reasons.

Simpson Timber Co. official John Gorman questioned the plan to build harvest options based on a 200-year look at the forest landscape.

"That's an awful long time to run a model," he said. "Look at 50 to 100 years."

Some folks had strong opinions about what to do with the state's remaining 80,000 acres of old-growth forests.

"I'd like to see them leave all of the old-growth alone," said Darian Ritchie, a Thurston County resident. "There's not much left anymore."

John Dodge covers the environment and energy for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5444 or by e-mail at jdodge@olympia.gannett.com.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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