Washington state’s forest stewards could botch a chance to market timber under the “green” label, supported by the Sierra Club and others, if the state retreats from current forest protection measures, independent auditors say.
The “green” audit warning comes as the state Department of Natural Resources board prepares to set harvest levels in state forests for the next 10 years.
The state Department of Natural Resources, which manages the lands under the board’s guidance, has proposed six harvest calculation scenarios, which will be the subject of a Natural Resources Board public hearing tonight in the Little Theater at Peninsula College in Port Angeles.
The session begins at 6 p.m.
Of the six harvest calculation options, five entail the kind of changes that could jeopardize a “green” label for state timber, forester Robert Hrubes said.
North Olympic timber interests, however, support increasing harvests — saying it will result in 800 new jobs and more badly needed state timber sale revenue to Clallam and Jefferson counties’ schools, hospitals and other public agencies.
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The rest of the story appears in Wednesday’s Peninsula Daily News.