Clallam County advisory committee approves letter urging legislative review of county forest trust lands

The Clallam County Revenue Advisory Committee voted March 2 to approve a formal letter asking the governor and state legislative leaders to review administration of county forest trust lands and to convene a committee to meet with local taxing-district officials.

Connie, chair of the Clallam County Revenue Advisory Committee, told members the "5 letter" is intended to prompt bipartisan legislative attention and a response from leaders, and that the committee asks for historical and projected revenue information from the Department of Natural Resources, monitoring of fiduciary performance by state appointees, and a legislative committee meeting with local taxing districts.

"We are really concerned about how our lands are being administered," Connie said, reading a prepared news release that said the committee believes recent administrative actions have reduced trust revenue available for local services.

The letter cites examples the committee says show reduced revenue: it states DNR withheld eight timber sales with an appraised value of $7,900,000 and a potential sale value of up to $12,000,000 that would have supported distributions to schools, fire districts, hospital districts and libraries. The committee asked legislators to review trust administration and consider steps such as requesting historical revenue figures from DNR and projections of future revenue to benefit counties and junior taxing districts.

A RACC member moved to accept the letter as amended; the motion was seconded and the committee conducted a roll-call vote. Commissioner Randy Johnson announced an abstention, citing that he had not had a thorough discussion with his fellow commissioners and noting a potential conflict related to his position with the Board of Natural Resources. The chair announced the motion carried with the majority in favor.

Public comment at both the start and end of the meeting emphasized local impacts. A public commenter from Clallam Bay said, "We're just not getting it done, folks," arguing the county needs to press for oversight because there have been few timber sales in 2026 and timber-sale schedules have been delayed. Former representative Jim Buck, who helped draft the letter, told the committee that taxing districts "have lost confidence in the ability of the trust administrator to carry out its duties" and urged the committee to go on record.

Commissioner Randy Johnson also summarized a Court of Appeals ruling connected to the "wishbone" timber sale that he said has complicated the DNR's ability to conduct sales, and he warned the committee that future sales could face additional litigation.

Connie said she planned to speak at the Board of Natural Resources meeting the following day and would hand-deliver copies of the letter to legislative leaders before the end of the session. The letter was released in connection with the committee's March 2 special meeting titled "Consideration of 5 letter regarding Clallam County Trust Lands." The committee adjourned after scheduling the next meeting for March 16.

The committee did not adopt any binding rule changes; it approved the letter as its next-step request for state-level review and oversight.