Board approves five timber sales after debate; adopts $250,000 habitat‑restoration direct‑sale resolution

The Board of Natural Resources approved a set of timber sales and adopted a resolution to implement statutory authority for limited direct sales for habitat restoration.

Amanda Taylor, assistant division manager for Product Sales & Leasing, presented the timber sales packet and December auction results. She told the board that 10 total sales were offered in December and nine sold, representing about 33.6 million board feet and generating roughly $9.2 million for trust beneficiaries. For the current packet staff presented five proposed sales totaling about 25.2 million board feet with a minimum appraised delivered value of $7.2 million and an expected delivered price of about $287 per thousand board feet (Amanda Taylor, staff presentation).

For the four westside proposals staff said they had evaluated 991 gross acres and conserved approximately 40% of those acres after field delineation to protect potentially unstable slopes, cultural resources, riparian areas and designated leave trees; the net harvest area of that subset was about 594 acres.

Named sales in the packet included the Lost Globe Timber Sale (South Puget Sound region), the Closer sale (Pacific Cascade region), Lehi Milago (Pacific region), Q Hope fire salvage (Northeast region) and Ghost (South Puget Sound region). Staff described unit‑level conservation delineations for each sale; for example, Lost Globe staff identified a 6.1‑acre old‑growth polygon that was excluded from harvest and said it lies adjacent to protected riparian management zones (staff presentation and region manager clarification).

The board first approved the timber sales package as presented with the exception of Lost Globe; members then took a separate vote on Lost Globe. A board member moved to withhold Unit 1 of Lost Globe, arguing the unit contains trees dating to the 1920s and the board needs a clearer strategy for maturing stands into future old growth. Staff explained removing a unit requires repackaging and a new appraisal; on the motion to withhold Unit 1 the chair found the amendment failed and the board then approved the Lost Globe sale, with Board member Reykdal recorded as voting no.

Later in the meeting board members approved Resolution 16‑71, which implements authority to perform direct sales up to $250,000 for qualifying in‑stream habitat restoration projects under the statute described in staff briefings.

Why it matters: the approved sales will result in near‑term harvests, generate distributions for beneficiaries and affect regional timber volumes and local jobs. The meeting record shows both manager‑level mitigation (conserved acres, leave‑trees, site‑specific exclusions) and board debate about whether particular units should be removed from sales.

Next procedural step: staff noted that if the board directs unit removals or sale repackaging, staff would need to reappraise and return the modified sale for board approval.