PORT ANGELES — Clallam Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Stanley took Earth Law Center’s request for a preliminary injunction request under advisement following 90 minutes of oral arguments Friday.
The arguments were made by attorneys for the Earth Law Center (ELC), the Center for Whale Research and the Orca Network and for the state Department of National Resources.
Stanley’s oral or written response either granting or denying the request will be issued within 90 days.
The ELC sought the injunction to halt logging and related activities, specifically road construction, on DNR forest lands within the Elwha River watershed.
The ELC argued that the DNR did not follow its own policies to preserve set-asides for older forest target thresholds on the Parched and Tree Well parcels, and it “buried” information that would show it wasn’t meeting state Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) requirements with the result the DNR board did not have the correct data on which to make a decision on whether to approve the logging.
The DNR called the ELC’s request for a preliminary injunction “overkill” because it was unlikely to succeed on its merits, and it argued that its board’s approval of logging sale rights to the Murphy Company of Eugene, Ore., was legal.
The Legacy Defence Coalition is seeking to halt logging on a separate parcel. That case was stricken from the docket when the attorney for that case was unable to be in court.
The Lower Elwha Tribe has advocated for protection of the Elwha River watershed, and the Port Angeles City Council has called for the DNR to stop logging the area because what it has said it would be a negative impact on the city’s water supply.
The DNR manages forest lands across the state that fund services like public schools, hospitals and fire districts.
In the first quarter of 2025, the DNR distributed $1.3 million from timber and non-timber sources to junior taxing districts in Clallam County.
The value of the Parched and Timber Wells sales is estimated to be about $5 million.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
