Clark County staff says DNR is reviewing pause on older forest sales; council plans site tours and possible letter

The Clark County Council on July 23 received an update from county staff on planned Trust Lands site visits and said the Washington Department of Natural Resources is reviewing a potential pause on timber sales and on policy for so-called "maturation 2" or structurally complex older forests.

Jordan Bogie, senior policy analyst, told the council that DNR staff indicated they are drafting a statewide approach for how to handle older, more structurally complex forests and that DNR was "working on a pause of timber sales." Bogie said the agency expects to develop a draft plan and to conduct a broad public engagement effort once the plan is ready; he added that DNR staff preferred that initial technical tours be limited to two councilors and county staff to avoid Open Public Meetings Act concerns.

Public commenters and several councilors urged stronger county action. Tanya Anger, who said she visited the Turnover sale site east of Yellow Lake and maintains a public Instagram page called Save Clark County Forests, described the forest as "structurally complex" and urged the council to be "proactive climate leaders" and to request that clear-cutting of legacy forest stands stop. "We need accountability, oversight, and we need to keep Clark County's oldest forests standing," Anger said.

Councilors asked Bogie whether the Turnover sale would be carried to the September Board of Natural Resources meeting; Bogie said his conversations suggested it was "quite unlikely" DNR would bring the sale to that September meeting because the agency likely will not have its draft plan in place by then. Several councilors supported drafting a follow-up letter to DNR requesting continued pause on the Turnover sale until the state's plan is complete. Bogie said he would draft a letter for council review and bring it back the following week.

Councilors also asked Bogie to seek additional mapping and analysis; Bogie said Cascade Forest Conservancy had offered GIS mapping to help identify structurally complex units and that the county would pursue that data in August.

Bogie said possible dates for site visits include Aug. 8 and dates in September; DNR staff had advised keeping public attendance limited while agency policy is still in draft form, though several councilors said they would prefer allowing public members to accompany at least to observe while the council visits sites.

The council directed staff to draft a letter emphasizing the county's interest in continued pause on the Turnover timber sale and to coordinate logistics for tours with DNR and county calendars.