Nick Smith

Actively managing Washington’s state trust lands and using locally sourced wood is a far better climate solution than leaving forests unmanaged. It is also better than “leasing” these public lands to private interests so polluters can keep polluting. The ongoing campaign to shut down these public working forests ignores the fact that timber harvesting is already prohibited on roughly half of all state trust lands in Western Washington. …These “protected” lands have abundant old growth and mature stands, but also tend to be unnaturally overstocked and vulnerable to carbon-emitting wildfires, insects and disease that increase tree mortality and decay. …If consumers and business are not using wood that’s grown, harvested and made here in Washington, we experience “leakage” effects, such as the importing of wood products from other countries, and “substitution” effects where more carbon-intensive projects, including concrete and steel are used instead of wood. These factors can’t be disregarded in the pursuit of a narrow political agenda.