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HomeMy WebLinkAbout072122 FW_ Jefferson County's State-Managed Forests - Thank you for your leadership! ________________________________ From: Danielle Shaw Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2022 1:16:24 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) To: Greg Brotherton; Kate Dean; Heidi Eisenhour Cc: Rachel Baker Subject: Jefferson County's State-Managed Forests - Thank you for your leadership! ________________________________ ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them. ________________________________ Dear Commissioners Brotherton, Dean, and Eisenhour, We wanted to extend our appreciation for your efforts on a forward-looking plan for the state-managed forests of east Jefferson County and for building a new working relationship with the Department of Natural Resources. We are grateful for your continued engagement with the agency, Board of Natural Resources, and Commissioner of Public Lands to voice the interests of Jefferson County in how local forests are managed and reject the false choice between generating essential revenue through intensive timber harvests and supporting environmental and public health. You are setting an exceptional example for other local communities who are interested in how their public lands are managed for climate resilience, forest health, conservation of older forests, revenue, social value, among other important goals. We applaud your thoughtfulness in understanding the many ecological, economic, and cultural contexts surrounding the unique older forests in your community. As you likely know, Washington Environmental Council advocates for ecologically-based forest management (such as longer-rotations cycles on actively-managed timberlands) along with protecting stands with high conservation value—including older, rare, and structurally-complex forests. These are not mutually exclusive strategies. Long-rotations are not a substitution for protecting ecologically or culturally valuable stands, naturally regenerated stands, or stands that have never been harvested. We’ve attached a one-pager that discusses these two strategies further. We know this is a complex issue with major local implications, and we’d welcome further discussion with you. We’d be more than happy to also provide policy and technical support if you ever find it useful. Again, thank you for your exceptional work and advocacy regarding state-managed forestlands in Jefferson County. Sincerely, Danielle (Skippy) Shaw Government Affairs Manager Washington Environmental Council Rachel Baker Forest Program Director Washington Environmental Council