HomeMy WebLinkAbout051021_cabs01 JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
Mark McCauley,Interim County Administrator
FROM: Heidi Eisenhour,Commissioner
DATE: May 10,2021
SUBJECT: DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION re: Department of Natural
Resources(DNR),Dabob Bay Inter-Trust Exchange Support Letter
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
DNR proposes to exchange approximately 820 acres of State Forest Land Trust holdings, for future benefit to
Jefferson County and our junior taxing districts, near Quilcene for equal-valued parcels of Common School Trust
(CSCT)forest land also located near Quilcene. There is a required DNR public hearing on the Inter-Trust exchange at
6PM on 5/13/2021 at the Quilcene School Gymnasium. We've been asked to send a letter of support for this exchange
from Northwest Watershed Institute.
ANALYSIS:
Some of these parcels were proposed for transfer in the 2019-2021 Trust Land Transfer(TLT) legislation with a
$6.3M appropriation. When completed,this re-designation of trust land tracts will allow for the future transfer of
approximately 820 acres into the DNR-managed Dabob Bay Natural Resources Conservation Area(NRCA). The
purposes of this exchange are twofold— 1)to protect additional important, in some cases globally rare, forest tracts in
and adjacent to the Dabob Bay NRCA(by transferring them into the CSCT status so TLT can be used to compensate
the CSCT for the timber value and replacement lands can be purchased to keep the CSCT whole)and 2)to keep the
State Forest Trust(SFT) land acreage allocation whole so that Jefferson County and our junior taxing districts(inc.
Quilcene and Port Ludlow Fire Districts)can continue to earn revenue.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Currently, revenue comes to the county when SFT Trust lands are harvested. Some of the SFT revenues are part of
critical funding for our junior taxing districts. This revenue comes in larger amounts with harvests but is irregular.
Additionally,DNR currently has a hold on harvesting older forests right now which much of the acreage being
discussed is.
This exchange would remove encumbered parcels from the SFT and replace them with other parcels. Also, if the 820
acres are added to the Natural Area, as proposed via Trust Land Transfer,the state will make payments in lieu of taxes
to the counties of an estimated(via to Assessor Jeff Chapman) $16K/year or$.5M over 30 years. This is a dependable
source of revenue for the county.
RECOMMENDATION:
Send letter of support for the DNR Dabob Bay Inter-Trust Exchange emphasizing our support for the transfer of
parcels into State Forest Trust status that will generate revenue for Jefferson County and our junior taxing districts.
REVIEWED BY:
AictuAsie
5/6 /2/
Mark McCaul , Interim County Admi ' t tor Date
SAMPLE LETTER FROM JEFF CO. BOCC
May 3, 2021
DNR, Dabob Bay Inter-Trust Exchange
Attn: Bob Winslow,
P.O. Box 47014,
Olympia, WA 98504-7014,
\[E-mail to: Exchanges@dnr.wa.gov \]
Dear Mr. Winslow:
We are writing to strongly support the Dabob Bay Inter-Trust Exchange 86-100443 proposed by
the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The proposed Inter-Trust Exchange
and associated Trust Land Transfer will permanently protect state forest within the portion of
the Dabob Bay Natural Resource Conservation Area (NRCA) that was expanded in 2016 and
improve the long-term value of the Forest Board Trust lands in Eastern Jefferson County.
State Forest Board Trust holdings within Dabob Bay NRCA include globally rare forest types,
riparian areas along Thorndyke Creek, and steep shorelines of Dabob Bay. Preservation of these
areas will help maintain the health of Dabob Bay ecosystem, its wildlife, water quality, and
shellfish industry. Furthermore, many of these parcels have serious constraints to timber
harvest under DNR’s management policies and regulations for riparian areas, unstable slopes,
and globally rare forest plant associations. The proposed Inter-Trust exchange will provide the
County with replacement Forest Board lands outside the Dabob Bay NRCA boundaries with
better potential to generate long-term revenue for the junior taxing districts.
DNR proposes to exchange approximately 820 acres of State Forest Land trust holdings within
2016 expanded portion of the Dabob Bay NRCA for equal-valued parcels of Common School
Trust forest land outside the boundaries to become “new” Forest Board Trust parcels in East
Jefferson County. Following the inter-trust exchange, Trust Land Transfer program funding
approved by the legislature in 2019 ($6.3 M) and additional WWRP state grant funding will be
used to fully compensate the Common School Trust for the value of the property transferred
into the Dabob Bay NRCA. All parcels involved in this proposed transaction would remain in
state ownership.
DNR has identified a broad range of Common School trust parcels in East Jefferson County
(identified as CS1 through 15 totaling 1,700 acres) that could become new Forest Board Trust
parcels where revenue from timber harvest will benefit the county’s junior taxing districts.
However, only some of these parcels will be needed.
Of the 820 acres of existing Forest Board Trust parcels within the Dabob Bay NRCA boundaries
proposed for exchange, all are located within the Quilcene Fire District with the exception of
the 160- acre Thorndyke parcel located in the Ludlow Fire District.
Thus, we recommend that if possible, DNR select only Common School Trust parcels for the
proposed exchange that are located within the Quilcene and Ludlow Fire Districts, with the goal
of no net loss of combined land and timber value within each of those two districts.
However, we request that five Common School parcels (CS-6,7,11,12, and 13) on the Toandos
Peninsula and within the Quilcene Fire District NOT be included in the exchange. These parcels
have serious constraints to timber harvest and are included in a possible future expansion of
the Dabob Bay Natural Area being proposed by local and statewide conservation organizations.
Changing these into Forest Board parcels would jeopardize revenue to the county’s junior
taxing districts, as well as complicate possible future conservation proposals.
CS- 6 and CS-7: These parcels are located within a larger block of DNR land adjoining the
north side of the Dabob Bay NRCA, where DNR has identified globally imperiled (G2) plant
associations that the agency is obligated to protect under its state management policies
and Sustainable Forest Initiative certification standards. The larger block, including these
parcels, is part of the proposed expansion of the Dabob Bay NRCA boundary.
CS-11 and CS-12: DNR has confirmed the G2 rare forest type on both of these parcels and
has suspended timber sale planning. These areas are both included in the proposed Natural
Area expansion.
CS-13: This is a high priority conservation parcel where DNR has identified a critically
imperiled forest type level (S1). The parcel has very high conservation value with extensive
shoreline adjoining public tidelands and “older forest” of the type that DNR is currently
evaluating for protection under its old growth protection policies. In 2012, this parcel was
identified for conservation in the Forests for the Future Report prepared by citizen
committee and by Jefferson County Commissioners.
Excluding these five parcels from the exchange will help ensure that Jefferson County receives
Forest Board lands in the exchange that can generate revenue for the junior taxing districts and
improve the timber value of the Forest Board lands overall. Likewise, keeping these parcels in
the Common School trust will simplify any future conservation proposal.
Sincerely,
Board of County Commissioners
Cc: Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands
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