PORT ANGELES — The state Board of Natural Resources has approved another Clallam County timber sale, despite advocates’ request that Unit 3 of the sale be preserved from harvest.
The sale in question, “Dungeness and Dragons,” has 69 harvestable acres, 39 acres preserved due to conservation policies and leave tree strategies, and 139 acres of newly found, permanently preserved old growth. The parcels are located about 4 miles south and west of Sequim near Lost Mountain Road and Cassidy Road.
Unit 3 contains 20 of the harvestable acres, with stands that originated post 1875. The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) performed an old growth assessment of the unit, examining the area for trees that sprouted before 1850, and found no “policy-definable old growth stands” that would defer this area from harvest, according to a DNR fact sheet.
However, activists requested that Unit 3 be preserved due to its steep slopes and close proximity to the Dungeness River, according to Elizabeth Dunne, director of legal advocacy for the Earth Law Center.
“The bigger picture [is], are we managing forest lands in a way that respects the need to address the biodiversity and climate crisis, or just trying to get as much present-day economic value [as we can]?” Dunne said.
Advocates also asked for preservation of Unit 3 due to its status as a legacy forest.
Legacy forests, a term coined by activists rather than the DNR, are mature, structurally complex, older forests that aren’t quite old enough to be preserved under the DNR’s old growth policies.
However, unless the DNR allows Unit 3 to be harvested, the sale would not be profitable enough to pay for the opening and maintenance of the roads, and the whole sale would have to be canceled, according to DNR Olympic Region Manager Bill Wells.
Overall, the sale is estimated to bring a total of about $187,323 split between nine taxing districts.
Now that the sale has been approved, it is scheduled to be auctioned in January.
Dunne said she hopes that once Public Lands Commissioner-elect Dave Upthegrove is sworn in, he will stand by his desire to protect legacy forests by pausing or canceling the auction of the Dungeness and Dragons sale.
Once the auction contracts are signed, however, the sales are final, according to DNR Communications Manager Ryan Rodruck.
Last month, the Board of Natural Resources (BNR) approved the sale of two parcels in the Elwha Watershed, Tree Well and Parched, amid public debate over them.
On Monday, the Earth Law Center, the Center for Whale Research and the Orca Network jointly filed an appeal in Clallam County Superior Court over the sale of Tree Well and Parched.
The Center for Whale Research and the Orca Network joined the lawsuit because of the relationship between the health of the Elwha Watershed, the existence of salmon and the survival of orcas, Dunne said.
Tree Well and Parched are scheduled to be auctioned Dec. 17-19. Although the DNR does not automatically stay sales that have been appealed, Dunne said the plaintiffs are seeking a voluntary stay and might move for an injunction.
“It creates more of a mess for everyone if they proceed with sales and prevail, and the sales end up being canceled or reversed, then they have undo everything,” Dunne said.
During the November meeting, the BNR simultaneously pulled the Elwha Watershed tree sale “Alley Cat” from the agenda for further dialogue with the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.
The pause of that sale is delaying an estimated $765,000 from being distributed between 10 taxing districts.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
