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Commissioners hear logging and forest-harvest data; residents raise replanting and oversight concerns
Summary
Commissioners discussed statewide timber-harvest statistics presented to them and heard residents express concern about local logging practices, stream setbacks, replanting rules and the county's limited permitting authority over private timber harvests.
County leaders and members of the public discussed timber-harvest trends, forest-practice oversight and local impacts during public comment at the Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners meeting.
A commissioner summarized information from recent presentations by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the state forest-practice board, telling the board that in February 2024, statewide timber harvest breakdowns showed private (large and small) landowners accounted for about 67% of harvest, state and counties about 22%, tribes about 7% and the U.S. Forest Service about 4%. The commissioner also said state forest land comprises roughly 54% of Washington and that statewide board-foot harvest in 2024 was "the lowest since the Great Depression," a level the presenter said would not support all existing mills if it persisted.
The commissioner noted that the forest-practice board recently increased setbacks and protections near streams and that the DNR is conducting a sustainable-harvest study in Eastern Washington following a decade-long study in Western Washington. The county has a representative seat on the statewide caucus that advises that board, but the local representative position is currently vacant and awaiting gubernatorial appointment, the commissioner said.
Members of the public asked questions about local effects. A resident said logging near private and public lands around his property appears extensive, with visible streambank erosion after heavy rain and concern that replanting or riparian buffers are inadequate. He asked why timber-harvest totals statewide are reported as low when heavy harvest activity is visible in some local areas. County officials responded that harvest levels vary geographically and that county permitting authority on forest practices is limited because many harvests are regulated at the state level through the forest-practice board and DNR permitting.
Another public commenter asked whether Cowlitz County had lifted a local replanting moratorium and said Google satellite imagery suggests forest cover near some developed areas is thinning. County leaders replied they would research local changes and noted the county's comprehensive-plan update was underway; that update could include forest-land analyses and would be a forum for public input.
Ending
Commissioners encouraged public involvement in the comprehensive-plan update and said they would monitor DNR study results and forest-practice board actions. No formal county-level policy or permit changes were adopted in the meeting.
