THANK YOU!! OFCO Comments on Draft Impact Statements on Marbled Murrelets and Timber Harvest
OFCO joined with the Marbled Murrelet Survival Project Coalition to submit comments on two important policies affecting the Marbled Murrelet: the Draft Environmental Impact Statements (DEIS) on the species’ Long-Term Conservation Strategy and the decadal Sustainable Harvest Level (Calculation). We asked our members and allies to support our work while the team worked furiously to finish.
We are very grateful for the faith put in our efforts and for all the individual letters you sent in to strengthen the Coalition’s impact.
The Coalition members—including Washington Forest Law Center (WFLC), Washington Environmental Council (WEC) and OFCO, among others—worked around the clock with WFLC staff scientist Dr. Kara Whitaker, pro bono lawyers (Ziontz Chestnut) and the UW Regulatory Environmental Law and Policy Clinic staff and students, along with commissioned economists and scientists, to put the comment packages together. Our asks are:
- Carry out a revised DEIS and designate the Conservation Alternative as the preferred option;
- Delay the Sustainable Harvest Calculation until the Long-Term Conservation Strategy Alternative process is finished, and undertake a revised DEIS on a harvest level that implements the Conservation Alternative; and
- Convene a high-level working group to identify sustainable sources of revenue for essential services (emergency, fire, police, health, schools, et al.) for Trustees and timber communities that may be impacted by conservation measures.
The documents submitted by the Coalition are linked below. WEC is preparing a summary of the package; we will link to it when it is finalized.
OFCO also submitted a separate comment asking that the State take a “hard look” at the impacts of Navy training activities expansion along with those of forestry practices. See OFCO’s comment here.
The work isn’t done; we will be building support for the Conservation Alternative as the Commissioner of Public Lands and the Board of Natural Resources consider the comments.
Marbled Murrelet Survival Project Coalition Comment Package (PDF)
Long-Term Conservation Strategy Draft Environmental Impact Statement Comments