In response to the Turnover timber sale’s State Environmental Police Act (SEPA) review, the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition (LFDC) said it believes a pair of units in the proposed sale are mature, structurally complex forests greater than 75 years old.
The LFDC added that it believes the Washington’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) SEPA checklist for the Turnover timber sale incorrectly states the age of the timber stands, pointing out that aerial images from 1952 show young trees in contrast to the SEPA review stating the stands originated in 1950 and 1953. The LFDC believes the timber stand likely originated in the 1920s or 1930s, its SEPA comments stated in May.
Matt Comisky, Washington state manager for the American Forest Resource Council, said, based on the records he’s been able to review regarding the Turnover property, the stand was planted in 1956.
“It was planted in 1956, which doesn’t surprise me, because this is in part of the Yacolt burn,” Comisky said. “I know much of that area in the mid-1900s saw reforestation efforts because that fire burned so hot that in many places the trees didn’t come back for decades, and so it’s not surprising to be planted.”
The American Forest Resource Council represents DNR timber purchasers, the forest product industry and the beneficiaries of timber sales.
Despite a June 25 letter to the Clark County Council from the Friends of Clark County (FOCC), Ann Foster, president of FOCC, responded to The Reflector’s interview request to learn more about FOCC’s position on the Turnover and Dendrophobia timber sales stating, “We respectfully decline, right at this moment, as it is an unsettled time and various forces at play that impact us — as well as all of Clark County.”
The letter from FOCC to the Clark County Council in late June urged quick action by the county council, with some suggestions, warning of the Turnover timber sale’s auction slated for September.
“Well, first off, Turnover is not going to happen in September,” Comisky said. “It did not go to the board in July. And that’s because it’s still on the pause list. … Typically, DNR releases a notice of final determination sometime after SEPA has closed. They’ve not done that. They can’t move forward with taking this to the board until that final notice of final decision is completed.”
Comisky added that Washington state Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove is still working on a resolution to the pause on certain timber harvests and sales.
“And what happens when the pause is finally lifted, we’re hopeful we’ll see something in that September board of Natural Resources meeting providing some kind of direction,” he said. “But at this point, we don’t know which direction it’s going.”
The Turnover site includes timber stands of Maturation 2, which means the forest has an understory with diverse species growing beneath the canopy, small gaps appearing due to natural disturbances such as wind and a relatively low presence of large fallen logs or standing dead trees, according to DNR. Maturation 2 landscapes, according to DNR, are very close to fully mature forests, with increased structural complexity and biodiversity.
Comisky pointed out the Maturation 2 aspects of the Turnover timber sale, adding the forest classification is in no way an age determination.
“I think that’s the important thing to understand that just because it’s Maturation 2, it doesn’t mean that it’s on its way or that it is close to old growth,” Comisky said. “It is just creating a more complex stand condition than what exists in a much younger forest that is where the trees are still competing against each other and they have a closed canopy so very little sunlight is reaching the forest floor. Which then precludes, you know, the establishment of understory plants.”
What is the end goal?
With a likely challenge and even a legal process pertaining to the Turnover sale, Comisky pointed out the trust makeup of the timber on the Turnover property.
“The other thing I would point out with Turnover is the trust makeup,” Comisky said. “You know, most of that timber sale is common school trust and state forest purchase repayment trust with a smaller percentage of it being state forest transfer, so you know, it’s not like all of Turnover is even Clark County Trust Land.”
Comisky said more and more sales appeals and challenges are being withdrawn as DNR is either prevailing in the preliminary injunction phase or on the merits.
“And so I think that to me, the question is, what is the end goal?’” Comisky said. “There are lots of acres of trees. There’s 23 million acres roughly of forest land in the state of Washington. About 11.5 million of that is even potentially manageable across the entire state.”
Comisky added that he cannot understand why folks are questioning DNR’s motives and performance without fully understanding each nuance of a habitat conservation plan. He said the process to be compliant is extremely complex and requires a high level of work and professionalism.
“And so the question in my mind is, what is this really about?” Comisky asked. “Is it about the acres that the marbled murrelet long-term conservation strategy released for management and folks just don’t want to see that done, or is this more about they don’t like timber harvest in their backyard? But they love to go buy wood products at their local grocery store, hardware store, lumberyard, you know. So I guess that’s the bigger part.”
Marbled murrelet long-term conservation strategy
Comisky also referenced the marbled murrelet, a small seabird that nests in old growth forests. The marbled murrelet long-term conservation strategy that was done in the timeline was expected to conclude around 2005, Comisky added.
“Any stands the Fish and Wildlife Service deemed unnecessary under the HCP (Habitat Conservation Plan) for the management of marbled murrelet would be released for harvest,” he said. “Now it took DNR, what, 20 years? You know, 2019, they finally got that done. So what are we, 14-15 years after the expectation? A lot of those stands that would have been released had an additional 14 to 15 years of growth.”
After some challenges from groups advocating for unnecessary timber stands in the conservation strategy that would go to harvest be saved for further conservation around 2017-18 to late 2019, early 2020, Comisky said that’s when closely related groups to those of then, appeared further advocating for the older timber stands be set aside from harvest.
“Anybody that was following the marbled murrelet long-term conservation plan efforts knew that they were going to be released for management,” he said. “So that means that we have a whole gamut of stands, and in many cases, likely would have been logged 15 to 20 years ago that are now being brought forward and these were also part of the sustainable harvest calculation that DNR had planned. And when you’re working in a sustainable harvest calculation method, you have a whole gob of constraints.”
Comisky explained the vast constraints, compliance with the 1997 Habitat Conservation Plan, other legal obligations and more. He said that DNR has done an excellent job with its compliance. But in DNR’s efforts to stay compliant, resources are pulled when legal battles ensue.
As illustrated in the months-long Dabbler timber sale debacle, which included a legal challenge by the LFDC and Friends of Clark County, there is a challenge of DNR resources that is created.
“The challenge is that this is taking time,” Comisky said. “All of these challenges are taking significant staff time away from doing other critical work that DNR needs to be doing, including updating the sustainable harvest plan, which, you know, should have been done by June 30 of last year. We’ll be pushing close to 13 months, the end of July here, of it being overdue. They're also trying to get one done for Eastern Washington that is long overdue. So, this takes a lot of staff time to respond to these things.”
