HomeMy WebLinkAbout102722 FW_ _WAStateLands_ Victory! Court Orders DNR to Consider the Climate Impacts of Logging
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From: Jessica Randall
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2022 9:56:11 AM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
To: Kate Dean; Heidi Eisenhour; Greg Brotherton
Cc: John Talberth; Mary Jean Ryan
Subject: Fw: [WAStateLands] Victory! Court Orders DNR to Consider the Climate Impacts of Logging
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Heidi, Greg, and Kate,
This is great news! It looks like Climate Change and Green House Gases from logging will finally be accounted for in our Environmental Impact and SEPA reports!
This case was heard in the Jefferson County Courthouse yesterday afternoon. The hearing had been put off for a couple of weeks in order for the judge to study the issue, and his comments
were spot on. We really appreciate his efforts.
Jessica Randall
see below:
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: John Talberth <jtalberth@sustainable-economy.org>
To: NW Forest Campaign <nwforestcampaign@googlegroups.com>; "pnwfca-wastatelands@googlegroups.com" <pnwfca-wastatelands@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2022 at 05:27:41 PM PDT
Subject: [WAStateLands] Victory! Court Orders DNR to Consider the Climate Impacts of Logging
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10-26-22
Court Orders DNR to Consider the Climate Impacts of Logging
For more information, please contact:
* John Talberth, Ph.D., President and Senior Economist, Center for Sustainable Economy, (510) 384-5724
* Ron Richards, Chair, Save The Olympic Peninsula, (360) 477-5367
* Claudia Newman, Bricklin and Newman (206) 264-8600
Port Townsend – In a major legal victory for Washington forests, Superior Court Judge Keith Harper ruled that the Department of Natural Resources violated the State Environmental Policy
Act (SEPA) by failing to consider the climate impacts of two timber sales in Jefferson County, vacated DNR’s determination of non-significance for the projects, and ordered the agency
to redo its SEPA analysis to address climate concerns. The Center for Sustainable Economy (CSE) and Save the Olympic Peninsula (STOP) sued to halt the Goodman 1 and Taylor Downhill
Sorts timber sales in February <https://www.sustainable-economy.org/washington-drn-sued-for-failing-to-account-for-the-climate-impacts-of-its-logging-proposals> of this year on the
grounds that DNR failed to quantify and mitigate the significant greenhouse gas emissions associated with the logging projects or the effects of clearcutting on wildfire risk, flooding,
heat waves, water shortages, landslides, reforestation failures and other stressors already on the rise due to climate change. The ruling is likely to extend far beyond these two timber
sales by forcing DNR to redo its SEPA procedures to make sure they are compliant with the statute – which clearly requires consideration of climate impacts – and in line with the best
available science for doing so.
According to Dr. John Talberth, President and Senior Economist for CSE, “As Senator Manchin has done in West Virginia for coal, Governor Inslee, Commissioner Franz and the legislature
have gone to extraordinary lengths to shield the timber industry from climate regulation, including passing legislation that declares logging to be a climate solution <https://www.earthisland.org/jo
urnal/index.php/articles/entry/deep-cut/> and entirely ignoring the enormous climate impacts of clearcutting when making forest management decisions. This ruling will help turn things
around by requiring DNR to report greenhouse gas emissions associated with logging and evaluate the extent to which clearcutting is making the land hotter, drier, and more susceptible
to wildfires.”
The case revolved around DNR’s refusal to even mention climate change when it approved the two Jefferson County timber sales after CSE and STOP provided extensive scientific evidence
about how logging projects such as these are generating significant quantities of GHG emissions and making the land more vulnerable to climate change. According to Jefferson County’s
recent Forest and Trees GHG inventory, logging is by far the greatest source of carbon pollution in the county. Despite this, DNR offered no explanation of why it ignored climate impacts
except to say that “the SEPA Environmental Checklist does not include analysis of climate impacts <https://irp.cdn-website.com/0358d1eb/files/uploaded/amp_sepa_ol_ts_taylordownhill_nfd.pdf>
.” CSE and STOP disputed this fact, and today’s ruling validates their position.
According to attorney Claudia Newman, who argued the case before Judge Harper today, “Judge Harper issued a well-reasoned decision that is consistent with law. DNR’s position in this
case was untenable. The agency does not have unbridled discretion to ignore its climate related duties under SEPA for timber sales.”
One of the key arguments plaintiffs advanced was that by failing to address climate impacts of logging at all, DNR is overlooking alternatives that are better for climate but keep logs
flowing to where they are needed – such as using variable density thinning instead of clearcutting in order to retain shade and promote natural regeneration. According to Ron Richards,
Director of STOP, “Without addressing the climate impacts of logging during SEPA, none of these win-win-win solutions will see the light of day. In addition to thinning instead of clearcutting,
these solutions include protecting older ‘legacy’ forests from logging and earning revenues from carbon markets, as DNR is now beginning to do elsewhere.”
For more information about the case, including copies of all pleadings, visit:
https://www.sustainable-economy.org/washington-drn-sued-for-failing-to-account-for-the-climate-impacts-of-its-logging-proposals.
John Talberth, Ph.D.
President and Senior Economist
Center for Sustainable Economy
Co-Director, Forest Carbon Coalition
(360) 344-2080 office
(510) 384-5724 cell
Skype ID: john.talberth
www.sustainable-economy.org <http://www.sustainable-economy.org>
www.forestcarboncoalition.org <http://www.forestcarboncoalition.org>
@johntalberth
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