Note: Date change for May meeting! Our monthly meeting will be a week early on May 5 at 10:00 A.M. (See the
calendar.)
Summer Fun: Please consider volunteering for our table at the Evergreen State Fair all day on
Aug. 29th to promote forest protection. Go online or let
Kate Lunceford know.
We Launched: LWVSC’s forest protection education campaign is in the ether sphere! Two short videos explaining the value of structurally complex mature forests (legacy) are published on Facebook and Instagram. These first videos are targeted to the environmental community for clarification on why these state forest lands should be preserved. The next three videos are scheduled for late June. They will be targeted toward rural communities. If you see them on your social media feed, please share them! One of the videos can be seen on
LWVSC's YouTube channel but the real educational power comes from sharing through Meta.
Efforts in April: Solveig Whittle and Friends of Hooven Forest presented a program in April on the student capstone projects that UW Bothell seniors completed in Hooven Forest with the help of Professor Amy Lambert. Commissioner of Public Lands Upthegrove attended the program, as well as Council Members Low and Dunn and Representative Duerr. CPL Upthegrove made comments commending the connections with college curriculum, student training, and public awareness. The program was recorded and will be posted on their website. Mike Town (formerly of Sierra Club) attended and offered help in new legislation to preserve small forests. On April 28th, they had third graders in the forest to show both the value of mature forests and working forests.
Kate took two minutes to give CPL Upthegrove charts by Stephen Kropp showing the volume and value of younger plantations in Snohomish County worth $68M that are available now for harvest and that could be used instead of legacy forests. There is $8M due the county now from recent timber sales that could cover more than a year’s usual revenue for junior taxing districts. The timber volume meets all the sustainable harvest expectations required by the Department of Natural Resources. Kate followed up the next day with an email but has not had a response.
Going Forward: We need to meet face to face with folks who receive timber revenue. LFDC will help us determine the annual budget for some of our junior taxing districts and how much the districts received in recent years. It’s important to have honest conversations about the balance we need in providing essential services and living in reciprocity with our environment.
We welcome folks interested in working on a strategy to protect legacy forests in Snohomish County. Join us for an hour at the link on the calendar on the second Tuesday of each month at 10:00 A.M., except in May and June. Check the
calendar.