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Lawsuit Targets Plan to Log State Lands; Conservation Groups Say 30% Increase in Clear-Cutting Can't Be Sustained

Posted on: Wednesday, 6 October 2004, 06:00 CDT

Conservation groups went to court in Seattle Tuesday in an attempt to stop the Washington Board of Natural Resources from increasing logging on state land by 100 million board-feet a year.

The 30 percent increase in clear-cutting isn't sustainable and will cost taxpayers and the school construction fund in the long run, said Josh Baldi of the Washington Environmental Council.

Fish, water and wildlife also will suffer because the state will have to log some of the last bits of old growth, as well as streamsides and slide-prone steep hillsides in order to achieve such a dramatic increase in timber production, the lawsuit charges.

"What we really need is a sustainable approach that benefits schools over the long run," Baldi said.

The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court by Washington Environmental Council, Audubon Washington, Northwest Ecosystem Alliance and Olympic Forest Coalition, asks the court to rule the logging plan is invalid.

The Board of Natural Resources adopted the 10-year logging plan Sept. 7. The blueprint, crafted under Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland's leadership, estimates the state will raise $1.5 billion for public schools, universities and county government over the next decade. Logging pays about 25 percent of the state's contribution to school construction.

The lawsuit is a frivolous waste of taxpayer dollars and a campaign season attack on Sutherland, a spokesman for the commissioner said. Sutherland, a Republican, is running for re- election against Democratic state Rep. Mike Cooper of Edmonds.

"The plan that they are suing over was adopted unanimously by the bipartisan Board of Natural Resources and has the support of the governor's representative and the dean of the College of Forest Resources at the University of Washington," said Sutherland's campaign manager Todd Myers. The Department of Natural Resources environmental analysis was so thorough that it contains 50 discussions of the effects of logging roads, right down to the amount of dust that comes from the roads.

"They throw out a lot of accusations, hoping one will stick," Myers said.

Critics say the plan won't deliver those dollars because it fails to account for global competition, the unpredictability of timber prices, and a society that won't tolerate such widespread clear- cutting.

Ken Olsen is a projects reporter for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-759-8010 or ken.olsen@columbian.com.

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