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Board approves slate of timber sales, debates and then approves Baker's Dozen sale
Summary
After staff presentations and public comment, the Board of Natural Resources approved a slate of 12 timber sales and, after discussion of a small Unit 3 and riparian protections, approved the Baker's Dozen sale. Staff emphasized HCP riparian buffers and old-growth protections in the proposal.
The Board of Natural Resources approved multiple timber sales at its July 7 meeting, and after discussion narrowly considered an amendment to remove one small unit from the Baker's Dozen sale before ultimately approving the sale.
Staff member Mike Sligh presented timber-sale results and walked the board through the Baker's Dozen proposal near Port Angeles. He said the sale, in the Olympic region, has a minimum appraised value of $334 per thousand board feet, is approximately 94% ground-based and includes more than 21 acres of riparian buffers, 5 acres of unstable-soil protections, 5 acres of wetland management zones and 19 acres of old-growth protection. On Ennis Creek — a Type 2 stream in the unit — staff said a 172-foot no-harvest buffer will protect about 10% of the sale area.
After public comment and questions, the board moved and passed a motion to approve the slate of sales presented in the packet excluding Baker's Dozen. Board member Chris Reykdal then raised concerns about Unit 3 in Baker's Dozen, describing it as "a weird little spur" adjacent to a home and proposed amending the sale to remove that unit. Staff and a DNR representative on the call explained the small 0.7-acre Unit 3 contains a root-rot pocket and lacks large trees, and that a regeneration treatment with resistant species was planned to address a forest-health issue. With that clarification, Reykdal withdrew his amendment and the board voted to approve Baker's Dozen.
Why it matters: the sales, as approved, will generate revenue for trust beneficiaries while the staff cited protective measures including HCP riparian buffers and identified old-growth polygons to be left unharvested. The discussion illustrated the board balancing site-specific conservation concerns, forest-health treatments and trustee revenue responsibilities.
Next steps: approved sales will be offered at auction as scheduled (some August/September listings were noted in staff materials); DNR will implement planned protections and monitoring per HCP and forest-practices rules.
