PORT ANGELES — The state Natural Resources Board meets today to take public comment on the state’s proposed 10-year harvest level for Western Washington’s timber trust lands.
The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the Red Lion Hotel, 221 N. Lincoln St.
“The board will make its decision on Sept. 7 in Olympia, but obviously they will talk about it when they are in Port Angeles,” DNR spokesman Todd Meyers said.
More specific timber harvest level increases for individual counties will be available at the meeting, but DNR’s “preferred alternative” will result in a significant increase in the state’s timber trust land harvest during the next decade, Meyers said.
The sustainable harvest calculation determines the 10-year timber harvest levels on 1.4 million acres of state trust lands managed by DNR in Western Washington.
Peninsula forestlands
State trust lands include acreage on the North Olympic Peninsula, Tiger Mountain in King County, Capitol Forest near Olympia and Tahuya State Forest in Mason County.
The agency has released the environmental-impact statement for its proposed 10-year sustainable harvest calculation, which favors the “innovative silvicultural management” alternative.
The proposed approach tries to integrate habitat and revenue generation objectives while adhering to the habitat conservation plan, forest resource plan policies and state and federal laws.
A copy of the environmental-impact statement is posted at DNR’s Web site, www.dnr.wa.gov/sepa.
