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10-Year Timber Target Debated

Posted on: Monday, 15 December 2003, 06:00 CST

Environmentalists yesterday urged state officials to go easy on logging of state-owned forests, preserving spotted owls and clear streams and old-growth forests as the Board of Natural Resources sets a 10-year timber-cutting target for Western Washington.

But loggers and others from the timber industry advocated approaches that would roughly double the timber take from 1.4 million acres of state lands. They argued that the earnings are sorely needed to build schools and shore up budgets of hard-pressed rural counties.

"This would yield additional timber, improve the economy and not significantly impact the environment," Ron Gelbrich of the Western Hardwood Association told officials of the state Department of Natural Resources last night at a public hearing at Highline Community College in Des Moines.

Countered Marcy Golde of the Washington Environmental Council: "We must stop the political nonsense of jobs, hospitals and schools versus a truly sustainable forest with marbled murrelets, spotted owls and all the other critters. We must have both."

The Natural Resources Board, the policy-making arm of the Department of Natural Resources, plans to identify a "preferred alternative" for the decade-long timber-cutting plan in February. Two more public hearings are planned before a final decision is made in mid-2004.

The board is made up of Doug Sutherland, the commissioner of public lands, who is elected statewide; Gov. Gary Locke; and representatives of schools, universities and rural counties that receive proceeds from state timber sales.

They are considering six options that lay out timber-cutting targets as well as environmental improvements that the state would undertake.

The alternative supported by most environmentalists would boost the timber cut only slightly and would double spotted-owl habitat.

The two alternatives supported most often by loggers and their allies would double the timber take. One would double spotted-owl- friendly forests while the other, dubbed "innovative silvicultural practices," promises to triple owl habitat.

"It's good for employment. It's good for wildlife. It's good for all the taxpaying citizens of Washington, and especially, it's good for the schoolkids of Washington," said Mark Kemp, a Salem, Ore., forester who works often in Washington.

Environmentalists argued that more money would be raised by adhering to principles of the Forest Stewardship Council, which promotes "sustainable" timber cutting that can bring a premium in a marketplace increasingly populated by green-leaning consumers.

Environmentalists, who dominated the crowd of about 65, repeatedly sought to make the case that, when it comes to cutting state timber, less is more.

One was Chris Peterson, executive director of the Seattle Audubon Society, who said that, as a former teacher, she "knows what it's like to be hamstrung in your classroom by a lack of resources."

"Adopt a new way of thinking about your task," she told the audience, which included Sutherland and his top lieutenant. "The public is ready for you to lead - the DNR - beyond the traditional supply and demand analysis. We ask you to use an approach called full-cost accounting."

For example, she said, past decisions to allow logging resulted in roads blocking streams where salmon spawn. Now the state faces a multimillion-dollar tab to fix those roads so salmon can get by.

Sitting in the audience to support the environmentalists was King County Executive Ron Sims, a gubernatorial candidate. Although he left before his turn to speak came up, Sims submitted written comments and said his argument emphasizes long-term economics.

"I would hope the state DNR and Board of Natural Resources will look very carefully at the numbers that can be harvested and make sure there's a market that can be sustained over the long term," Sims said.

P-I reporter Robert McClure

can be reached at 206-448-8092

or robertmcclure@seattlepi.com

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