Dave Upthegrove

Washington’s Department of Natural Resources is making a renewed push for legislation that would allow it to sell carbon offset credits created from state timber lands. Under bills proposed in the state Legislature, the credits would be sold to businesses during the state’s carbon-allowance auctions to balance greenhouse gas emissions and allow the state to conserve some forests. The bills would also allow the state to sell other environmental benefits like water rights and wildfire mitigation. This latest effort comes with added urgency for Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove. In August he signed an order to conserve 77,000 acres of “structurally complex” forests. …But DNR’s financial obligations have presented a thorn in Upthegrove’s plans. …Upthegrove is pushing the state to find other ways to fund these services so his agency can focus on ecological sustainability. Now, he says it’s time for the state to enter the emerging markets for carbon and other “ecosystem services.”