PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson Land Trust is seeking to fill two remaining seats on its Chimacum Ridge Community Forest board of managers.
Tim Lawson, chair of the board of managers, said board members will have an opportunity to shape the way people can experience the forested ridge.
“The role of the board of managers is to be able to review all of the aspirations for the land and be able to help the community forest make decisions that will be best for the forest and best for the community,” Lawson said. “We’re looking for a maturity, a confidence, and the ability to help us collectively see our way through this.”
The board will oversee the establishment of policies for the 853-acre forest, he said. The forest is planned to open for public access in September, according to a land trust press release.
The board will engage questions around how best to balance the three guiding pillars for the ridge: social benefit, economy and ecology, Lawson said.
He outlined areas of consideration for social benefits.
“That’s things like access, recreation and education,” Lawson said. “How is it that people get up there? How is it that they wander around and enjoy the property? How do we deliver educational benefits from the ridge? How do we engage with the school system? How do we engage with nonprofit schools and adult learning groups?”
The land trust wants the ridge to be economically self-sustaining, he said.
“We would be doing harvests up there,” Lawson said. “When we harvest, our hope is that the wood can be locally used and we can use local crews to do the harvest. How do we network with people who can help us do that? How can we connect with the community? In part, how can we start to set expectations in the community, ‘Hey, it’s much smarter to use wood that’s locally sourced than bringing it in from elsewhere in the states and down in (British Columbia)?’”
The trust is considering other economic opportunities, like allowing people to harvest some aspect of the flora, Lawson said.
Lawson said the board may need to weigh the values against each other at times. Specifically, he mentioned tensions that might exist between the economic and ecological pillars.
“We also want to sustain the ecological values up there,” Lawson said. “If anything, we want to create better habitat and really understand who the animal visitors up there are and who the bird visitors are. What is it that we have in the vegetation that supports everything?”
It is meant to be a working forest, but how the values are balanced are the sorts of questions board members would scrutinize, Lawson said.
“For example, are there stands that we take out of rotation, because the ecological values of that stand are high? Or because the educational values of that stand are high?” Lawson asked.
Candidates can see the full list of requirements at www.saveland.org/chimacum-ridge-board.
According to the webpage, applicants must draft a letter, including their name, address, phone number, reasons for their interest in board position and any relevant experience for the role. For consideration, the letter should be emailed to info@saveland.org by midnight on May 18.
The initial term will require more time investment from board members than future terms, as the board develops the forest’s guiding policy documents, Lawson said.
“In this last few, we’ve developed and approved four or five policies,” Lawson said. “Things like an access policy, a foraging policy and signage policy. We’re going to be working on things like a hunting policy and development of the language to go on signage.”
Interested candidates are required to commit for a minimum of one three-year term. Board members will be limited to serving no more than three consecutive terms. Individuals interested in serving more terms may apply a year after the expiration of their third term.
Board of manager members also should expect a monthly time commitment of up to 10 hours for collaborative document creation, four to 10 hours in two to three meetings with prior document review, and two to three hours engagement with Community Forest Manager Ryen Helzer and the public.
Board members will be responsible for collaborating with one other member in leading two advisory meetings per year, an expected time commitment of up to 16 hours annually. The forest has three advisory groups corresponding to its pillars: the social advisory group, the economic advisory group and the ecological advisory group.
In 2026, board member time requirements are expected to reduce to two to six hours a month for one to two meetings a month, plus the annual 16 hours for leading two advisory meetings.
In addition to Lawson, current board members include Vice Chair David Gilluly, Secretary Devon Buckham, Treasurer Kris Lenke, board member Owen Fairbank and board member Dan Hysko, according to the land trust’s Chimacum Ridge board members webpage.
________
Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
