Working to conserve and restore DNR forests and other state public lands for all Washingtonians
Latest update: February 2023: Ask WA leaders to save our carbon-dense older forests
We work closely with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, forestry companies and other organizations to promote ecological management and resilience on state forest lands, including State Trust Lands and special places such as the Loomis State Forest, Blanchard Mountain and Lake Whatcom.
We believe the Washington State Constitution directs the state to manage its granted lands with a balance of benefits to both the public and beneficiaries.
We pursue opportunities to both uphold this principle on the ground and establish it in law and policy. We expect state trust lands to benefit the public’s interest in clean water and biodiversity, including the needs of endangered wildlife species and trust beneficiaries.
Learn more about our lawsuit to ensure Washington’s state forests are managed for all the people, as the state constitution directs.
Or read about the history of “trust lands” and our work on them in this blog from our Executive Director or on this page from Washington Environmental Council.
News on State Forest Lands
- February 2023: We need our leaders to protect older forests
- February 2023: WA auctions off more older forests, Seattle Times
- July 2022: Supreme Court rules in CNW vs. Franz
- October 2021: Washington State Forests at the State Supreme Court
- October 2021: Conservation groups want Washington forests managed ‘for all the people’, KUOW
- October 2021: State Supreme Court Case On Public Lands Begins Oral Arguments, Northwest Public Broadcasting
- October 2021: What could Washington State Forest management look like for “All the People”?
- October 2021: Conservation groups, residents argue before Washington Supreme Court that State Forests must be managed for “all the people”
- October 2021: Background on State Trust Lands litigation, Washington Environmental Council
- July 2021: A middle path to climate-smart forestry, op-ed in The Seattle Times
- April 2021: DNR wildfire and forest restoration bill heads to Governor
- March 2021: Amid climate crisis, a proposal to save Washington state forests for carbon storage, not logging, The Seattle Times
- March 2021: Washington Supreme Court grants case arguing state forests must be managed for “all the people”
- February 2020: Lawsuit: Who Should Benefit From Revenue From State Forests?, Post Alley Seattle
- January 2020: We’re going to court on behalf of state forests
- January 2020: Conservationists respond to lawsuits by timber industry with suit calling for management of Washington’s state forests to benefit “all the people”
- December 2019: What is the future of Washington state’s forests? Endangered marbled murrelet seabird caught in fight, The Seattle Times
- October 2018: Finding solutions for murrelets and coastal communities
Marbled Murrelets
We also work on marbled murrelet conservation and recovery, a rare seabird that depends on coastal forests, including those on state and private lands. Murrelets need large areas of coastal and near coastal old-growth forest for nesting. They avoid fragmented and partially developed forest landscapes, and are declining rapidly in Washington and listed as a state Endangered species.
This work for State Forest Lands is also critically important for our Cascades to Olympics connectivity program.
