Washington Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove is dialing back his goal to protect 77,000 acres of older state forests from timber harvest even as he asks lawmakers to give him more tools to do so. On Sept. 24, the first-term commissioner dropped the figure to 55,000 acres, blaming the reduction in part on mapping errors. While those forests are now exempt from logging through 2030, Upthegrove is banking on the state Legislature granting his Department of Natural Resources broader authority in how it generates revenue from its management of state lands so that those acres do not eventually end up in a timber sale. …Land management is only one concern of Upthegrove’s. Another is the agency’s internal budget problems. A key account that funds forestry work was on track to go negative by midsummer. The agency deferred work on some lands to keep the account positive, according to agency officials.