Rural Legislators Question Timber Sales Bipartisan Group Says Logging Ban May Hurt School Funding

Six legislators from rural communities have asked the state attorney general to determine whether Washington is selling enough of its trees to loggers.

The bipartisan group also wants to know whether the state Board of Natural Resources violated state law by agreeing to permanently prohibit logging on 25,000 acres of the Loomis State Forest near Oroville. Profits from timber sales on state forests benefit public schools.

The natural resources board is led by Jennifer Belcher, the state’s elected public lands commissioner. Rural Republicans in recent weeks have accused Belcher of mismanagement and violating her oath of office.

Those charges were in the form of two draft resolutions, known as “remonstrances,” introduced by Rep. Bob Sump of Republic and Rep. Jim Dunn of Vancouver.

Belcher, a Democrat, has called the resolutions election year attacks. But in a press release issued Tuesday, Sump said the bipartisan letter to Attorney General Christine Gregoire proves that’s not true.

“This is not an election-year issue,” he wrote. “The commissioner’s irresponsible management of state forest lands has been going on for years.”

Rep. Jim Buck, R-Joyce, called the letter to Gregoire a request to “investigate charges of mismanagement” against Belcher. Sump’s press release used similar terms.

But the three Democrats who signed the letter noted that it doesn’t mention Belcher by name or title, doesn’t specifically mention the Loomis forest and doesn’t use the word “mismanagement.” Rather, it seeks clarifications about various laws relating to public lands, and the role of the Legislature and Board of Natural Resources in such issues.

“I was kind of upset by (Buck’s press release) because I was trying to keep this out of the political arena,” said Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam. “It certainly doesn’t characterize what I signed. What it characterizes is the remonstrances.”

“This is trying to determine if the state is acting properly,” said Rep. Mark Doumit, D-Cathlamet.

In addition to Kessler and Doumit, a third Democrat, Rep. Brian Hatfield of Raymond, signed the letter to Gregoire. The three come from timber-dependent communities and say they share concerns that Belcher isn’t allowing the harvest of enough timber.

Hatfield said Belcher acts more like an “environmental czar” than a lands commissioner.

“We’ve got schools needing more money,” Hatfield said. “The schools in my district are definitely concerned about the Loomis sale, and whether it sets a precedent.”

The Board of Natural Resources agreed in November to take 25,000 roadless acres of the 134,000-acre Loomis forest out of timber production. In exchange, environmentalists paid the state $16.5 million.

Sump contends that amounts to an illegal sale, since state law prohibits land sales of more than 160 acres of school trust land, or any sales without competitive bidding. Seattle environmentalist Fred Munson, who helped negotiate the Loomis deal, said that mischaracterizes the agreement.

“It wasn’t a sale,” he said. “If it was a sale, we’d own it, and we don’t.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: Belcher under fire

Rural Republican lawmakers accuse lands commissioner Jennifer Belcher of:

Violating state law by agreeing to permanently prohibit logging on 25,000 acres of the Loomis State Forest near Oroville.