HomeMy WebLinkAbout110322 Protect Essential Services in Jefferson County________________________________
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November 3, 2022
Jefferson County Board of Commissioners
1820 Jefferson Street
Port Townsend, WA 98368
Dear Commissioners,
Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities (HFHC) is a non-profit organization. It is supported by individuals and businesses who are passionate about improving the health of our forests and
the future of our rural, forested communities. We are a grassroots coalition that supports the need for active, sustainable forest management to improve and sustain forest health; restore
jobs and economic opportunities in rural communities; and provide timber-based revenues to support essential public services.
HFHC recently mailed Jefferson County residents alerting them to a proposal by Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz to withdraw Department of Natural Resources (DNR) state trust
lands from sustainable timber management activities in favor of long-term leases with a private company to sell carbon credits on unregulated, voluntary carbon offset markets. Those
mailers included a return post card for Jefferson County residents to go on record with the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners in opposition to this proposal. We have attached
a list of the names and cities of residence of all the individuals who returned the postcard.
We urge you to take their views into account as you respond to the DNR’s identification of over 3,900 acres of state trust lands in Jefferson County as candidate parcels for Phase II
of the carbon project. This decision could come at the cost of over $35,000,000 in reduced funding for public services, including local schools and fire and rescue services in Jefferson
County. Meanwhile, the estimated 114 MMBF of timber that would not be harvested from these forests will cost an estimated 4,100 direct and indirect jobs, with many of those losses
coming on the Olympic Peninsula.
We believe there is a better way and support balanced policies that promote rural economic opportunity while also maintaining the many benefits we have come to expect from our forests,
including recreation and diverse wildlife populations.
Thank you for your consideration.
Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities
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Nick Smith
Executive Director
Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities
(503) 515-4206
HealthyForests.org <http://healthyforests.org/>
HFHC on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/healthyforestshealthycommunities>
HFHC on Instagram <https://www.instagram.com/healthyforestshc/>