HomeMy WebLinkAboutWashington State Department of Natural ResourcesDEPARTMENT OF
NATURAL RESOURCES
OLYMPIC REGION
411 TILLICUM LANE
FORKS WA 98331
360.374.2800
OLYMPIC.REGION@DNR.WA.GOV
WWW.DNR.WA.GOV
April 14, 2023
Dear Port Angeles City Council Members,
I am reaching out regarding a pair of upcoming Department of Natural Resources timber sales
in Clallam County that you may have received some concerns from the public about.
The TCB 23 sale is designed in part to create habitat for the endangered Taylor’s checkerspot
butterfly. Our staff have worked with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to design
the harvest unit in a way that will allow DNR to create a large amount of short-term habitat for
the butterfly for the next five to seven years. The TCB 23 sale will also allow us to maintain 7
acres of habitat in the long term that we will replant with plants the butterflies use. We will
keep invasive species, trees and brush out of that 7-acre area to give the butterflies the best
chance to flourish.
For the Power Plant timber sale, much of the footprint of the sale was harvested approximately
two decades ago, shortly after DNR first adopted its Habitat Conservation Plan with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service. That harvest was designed in an
experimental way, and the trees have not responded in the way that our foresters and
scientists had expected. By harvesting this area now, it will allow DNR to improve the long-term
health and function of these forests by restoring them to a more healthy state.
After the harvests, some areas will be left to grow and others will be replanted so that future
generations will benefit from a healthy forest.
For both timber sales, the trails within the harvest areas will either be b uffered from harvest
activities or the purchaser of the timber sale will be required to rehabilitate any damage done
to the trails. Revenue from both sales will benefit the junior taxing districts in Clallam County. It
is important to remember that while recreation is an allowed use of State lands it must not
interfere with land management activities.
The two sales are currently slated to be brought to the Board of Natural Resources for approval
during its June 2023 meeting.
The state trust lands that DNR manages are different than other publicly managed lands. They
come with a legal responsibility to generate revenue for their designated beneficiaries,
including the counties, schools, hospitals, fire districts, and other critical local services.
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As stewards of the state’s lands and natural resources, DNR draws upon a variety of staff,
including foresters, engineers, geologists, biologists, hydrologists, soil scientists, economists,
archaeologists, and others while management activities are planned.
All of the forestlands DNR manages west of the Cascades, including those on the Olympic
Peninsula, are managed under the Habitat Conservation Plan with the federal government. The
policies in the plan ensure that all timber harvests comply with the Endangered Species Act and
the Clean Water Act.
Approximately 50 percent of trust lands in the Olympic Region are currently set aside from
harvest for habitat and resource protection.
All DNR-managed forested trust lands are certified under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative®
(SFI). Certified forests are grown to an approved set of standards that demonstrate
environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable management
practices. For more information, the SFI website is https://forests.org/
If you have any questions about the sales, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Mona Griswold
Olympic Region Manager
360-374-2800