The Washington State Forest Practices Board took the final steps to approve a new rule this week that will remove large swaths of timber in Western Washington from production.
The Forest Practices Board voted 7-5 for final approval of a new “type NP buffer stream” rule. Despite the confusing title of the new rule, the changes implemented are relatively simple. The rule expands the size of buffer zones around streams without fish where trees cannot be cut down.
The Forest Practices Board has been in the process of developing the new rule since 2021 but more recently — in the last year — the rulemaking process has turned contentious.
The controversy lies in the predicted economic impact of the new regulations. The new rule that received final approval during the board’s November meeting on Wednesday is predicted to remove roughly 200,000 acres of Western Washington timber from production.
Lewis County and other counties in Southwest Washington are expected to be the hardest hit.
A cost benefit analysis from the Washington state Department of Natural Resources estimates Western Washington could lose between $320 million and $1 billion in timber value.
Studies conducted over years ahead of the rulemaking process linked the clearing of trees near streams to warming water temperatures that threaten the health of endangered fish species in the state. Despite the streams not bearing fish, the tributaries of larger streams are seen as valuable in controlling the water temperatures of fish-bearing streams.
The rule has in the previous months, and most notably over the summer during a series of Forest Practice Board and public hearings, received scathing criticisms from groups and lawmakers representing Southwest Washington, who claim the new rule does not adequately consider the economic impacts of the rule.
In a news release from the Washington state Republican Party published shortly after the board’s final decision, state Reps. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, and Joel McEntire, R-Cathlamet, said the new rule represented a failure of the state government “on many levels.”
In the statement, the two lawmakers echoed critiques leveled by many others opposed to the rule, claiming fault in the rulemaking process and the studies commissioned to support the new rule. The two also called for the board to go back to the drawing board and restart the rulemaking process.
“Today’s proposal adopted by the Washington Forest Practices Board is a disaster — an affront to science, proven forest practices, and the financial wellbeing of all Washingtonians,” McEntire and Walsh said in the joint statement. “This reckless decision will devastate small forest landowners and the rural communities they sustain. By removing millions in local tax revenue tied to timber harvests, the board has effectively cut funding from classrooms, teachers and essential local services. Washington deserves better than this.”
Executive Director of the Washington Forest Protection Association (WFPA) Jason Spadaro similarly condemned the rule.
WFPA represents private forestland owners harvesting trees on approximately 4 million acres of land in Washington state. Spadaro also questioned the reliability of the rulemaking process and claimed the rule would devastate rural communities.
“The Forest Practices Board’s approval of the Type Np buffer rule is a setback for collaboration and fairness,” Spadaro said. “The decision endorses a flawed process that produced only one option — ignoring the economic consequences for forest landowners and rural communities while offering no clear environmental gain.”
