POINT OF VIEW: The cost of legacy forest deception

Published 1:30 am Thursday, June 18, 2026

THE LEGACY FOREST Defense Coalition sued the state Department of Natural Resources to stop harvest of the Parched and Tree Well timber sales in Clallam County.

The suit is the latest of many LFDC attacks on Clallam County and it’s part of LFDC’s all-encompassing strategy to destroy Washington’s timber trust lands and timber-related infrastructure. What LFDC won’t say is how much their actions will hurt Clallam County.

Clallam County taxpayers get a generous boost from county timber trust land when the harvest dollars lower their property tax bills. Property taxes could be as much as 20 percent or more higher without money from the timber trust.

LFDC would like us to believe that there is little financial impact to the county.

County taxing districts are out $5,939,258 from LFDC’s lawsuit to shut down the two sales.

The suit cost the Port Angeles School District budget almost $2 million. Clallam County loses about $1 million. Fire District 2 is out $568,000.

The $1.6 million to State School 1 and 2 is alarming. OMC needs every penny of its lost $266,340. The Port of Port Angeles, conservation futures, North Olympic Library System and Shore Aquatic Center are also impacted.

County taxpayers will have to make up the shortfall or face service cuts.

The county economy is out $3,890,252. It means the loss of dozens of family-wage timber industry jobs. The multiplier effect of that money spent in the county threatens the loss of hundreds more indirect service industry jobs.

In addition, for every $1 of stumpage generated for our taxing districts, there is another $5 generated by the loggers, accountants, truck drivers, mills, foresters and their related indirect and induced jobs.

In Clallam County, there are more than 1,700 employees in the forest products sector, and it’s the only private sector paying family-wage jobs.

State taxpayers are out $3,627,181 to the common school construction trust and DNR operations budget. That does not include the expenses LFDC costs taxpayers for replacement of vandalized property, additional security and added staff time to address their legal challenges.

This sounds like a lot of gloom and doom, but it pales in comparison to other LFDC actions. Challenges to the Doc Halladay, Powerplant, Striped Peak and Dungeness and Dragons sales present similar budget impacts throughout the county. LFDC’s support of last year’s harvest pause cost the county $12 million.

LFDC’s actions stem from its opinion that the state fails to protect forest lands. Over 60 percent of Clallam County Transfer land is set aside to protect fish, endangered species, old growth timber and a host of other special areas. All county timber sales meet stringent state and federal requirements. LFDC has the right to disagree with the requirements, but it has the responsibility to be truthful with taxpayers about the impact of its disagreement.

This controversy is not about long-term conservation of trees. This is about whether the county will have teachers, nurses, county workers, fire trucks, police cars, good roads and funding for infrastructure to prepare for the future.

LFDC is willing to sacrifice our immediate needs for its agenda.

County taxpayers have a decision to make. They must decide to defend the trust asset that helps pay their property taxes or let activists destroy their tax base and economy.

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Jim Buck is a former 24th Legislative District state representative who lives in Joyce.