Settlement reached on State Forest logging:

Washington Environmental Council et al v Sutherland et al Settlement Agreement



Involved parties in a lawsuit that challenged the ten-year sustainable harvest calculation for 1.4 million acres of state forests in Western Washington announced a settlement on March 21, 2006. The major elements of this settlement agreement are listed in an Executive Summary.

OFCO is especially pleased with the agreement for the Olympic Experimental State Forest, our major area of interest. This agreement protects older forests and jump starts the landscape plans mandated under the Habitat Conservation Plan, which have stalled in recent years. In addition, needed research on innovative silviculture will take place where it especially belongs--on DNR's experimental forest. We look forward to our role in implementation of this settlement.

"This settlement is good for the forests and the people of Washington. It provides more protection for older forests which are important to wildlife, increases thinning to improve habitat, and tests innovative forestry that can increase both revenue and environmental benefits,” said Joan Crooks, Executive Director of the Washington Environmental Council. “It also gives more certainty to the schools and communities who benefit from these forests.”

The settlement agreement follows a period of meetings and discussions that began in November, 2005. The parties voluntarily joined this process with the intent of better achieving their respective goals through settlement instead of further litigation in the matter.

The Settlement Agreement entails increased short-term protection of habitat for the northern spotted owl on state trust lands and a clear commitment to enhancement and restoration of spotted owl habitat on those lands; as well as a new logging level consistent with the agreement, which is in place until at least 2014.

Plaintiffs were the Washington Environmental Council, National Audubon Society, Conservation Northwest, and OFCO.