HomeMy WebLinkAbout052421_ca13 JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
Mark McCauley,Interim County Administrator
FROM: Heidi Eisenhour, Commissioner
DATE: May 24,2021
SUBJECT: SUPPORT LETTER re: Department of Natural Resources(DNR),
Dabob Bay Inter-Trust Exchange
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. The DNR public hearing on the Inter-Trust exchange originally scheduled for 5/13/2021 at has been postponed.
We've been asked to send a letter of support for this exchange from Northwest Watershed Institute.A letter now will give DNR
time to assess the mix of parcels they are proposing for the exchange before a future hearing.
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 supporting inclusion of the right mix of DNR parcels in the Dabob Bay Inter-Trust Exchange to ensure there are
adequate and productive parcels into State Forest Trust status that will generate revenue for Jefferson County and our junior taxing
districts.
REVIEWED BY:
Mark McCaul ,Interim County Admin
istr Date 37741///
SAMPLE LETTER FROM JEFF CO. BOCC
May 17, 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 ($6.8 M). 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 an equitable share of land and timber value within the junior taxing districted affected. To
meet this goal, we request that DNR proceed with the exchange with the following request
regarding Common School parcel selection:
1) We request that all Common School parcels in Quilcene that were identified by DNR be used
in the Inter-Trust Exchange, with the exception of five parcels (CS-6,7,11,12, and 13) on the
Toandos Peninsula. These five 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, shellfish growers, and Tribes. Changing
these into Forest Board parcels would jeopardize future revenue to the county’s junior
taxing districts, as well as complicate possible conservation solutions involving a future Trust
Land Transfer.
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. In fact, this rare plant association
represents part of the largest remaining occurrence of this type of native rhodendron
forest left in the world. 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 at the state 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 “older forest” 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.
2) We request that all or part of CS-15, a 523-acre Common School parcel in the Ludlow Fire
District be used in the Exchange to compensate for the Thorndyke Creek Parcel.
In summary, we strongly support the proposed Inter-Trust Exchange that will protect important
conservation lands within the Dabob Bay Natural Area while improving the potential of Forest
Board lands in Jefferson County to continue to generate revenue for the junior taxing districts.
However, we want to make sure the Inter-Trust Exchange is as equitable as possible for the
districts given the complex arrangement of multiple taxing district boundaries and DNR parcels
in East Jefferson County and ask you to carefully consider our request regarding the selection of
Common School parcels as replacement Forest Board lands in Eastern Jefferson County.
Sincerely,
Board of County Commissioners
Cc: Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands