Re: “Lands commissioner’s logging ‘pause’ upsets a careful calculation” (Jan. 31, Opinion):
On Jan. 15, his first day as the brand new Commissioner of Public Lands, Dave Upthegrove introduced a six-month pause on timber gross sales of sure mature forests. Upthegrove leads the Division of Pure Assets, which manages greater than 2 million acres of public forestland on behalf of the folks of Washington and of some counties, offering income for beneficiaries equivalent to faculty districts and native libraries.
I applaud Upthegrove for preserving his marketing campaign promise to rethink logging mature forests. After 4 years of controversy, Upthegrove has signaled that we must be considerate in regards to the destiny of those landscapes which might be each the ecological and the financial spine of our state. Many, together with my constituents, and commissioner colleagues in my county and different counties, have been calling for this.
This doesn’t imply that we will ignore the wants of individuals and establishments that depend on DNR income. We should guarantee that any dip in funding is mitigated. However in an period of rising understanding in regards to the local weather advantages of mature forests, it is smart to take a while, simply six months, to fastidiously take into account our subsequent strikes relating to forests that can’t be changed in a human life span.
Heidi Eisenhour, District 2 county commissioner, Jefferson County
