Washington Public Lands Commissioner Adjusts Forest Conservation Goal Amid Financial Challenges
Washington Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove has revised his goal for conserving older state forests, reducing the target from 77,000 acres to 55,000 acres. This adjustment, announced on Thursday, is partly attributed to mapping errors. While these 55,000 acres are currently protected from logging until 2030, Upthegrove is seeking broader legislative authority for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to generate revenue from state lands through means other than timber sales. He emphasized that changing a system in place since statehood takes time. The DNR faces internal budget problems, with a key forestry funding account nearly going negative, leading to deferred work on some lands. Upthegrove stated that the current forestry business model in Washington has been leading to a financial crisis for over a decade. The commissioner oversees nearly 6 million acres of state public land, with about 3 million acres designated as 'trust lands' that generate revenue, primarily from logging, for schools...
