PORT TOWNSEND — A state Department of Natural Resources second quarter timber revenue report showed no income coming to Jefferson County.
DNR officials provided a report to the board of county commissioners on Monday, and while they had projected $449,063 in revenue based on sales currently in progress, those projections were undermined by the reality of the phases of the harvesting projects.
“It can be hard to predict when purchasers are going to harvest a given sale,” said Drew Rosanbalm, DNR assistant Olympic Region manager. “Some of the factors purchasers will take into consideration and include market values and their mill inventory, or market needs of the day. They have started and stopped both of these sales multiple times.”
Locations
The three properties currently under contract and set to generate DNR revenue for the county are Center 21, Penny Wise and Jupiter Access.
The county can still expect to see that revenue; numbers in the second quarter just represent a delay.
Center 21 is a “weight-scale” sale, which means a logging company pays for wood actually removed, scaled by an independent third-party scaling bureau, Rosanbalm said.
Penny Wise and Jupiter Access are “lump-sum” sales, meaning the logging companies pay a set amount for the rights to log an area, regardless of how much they get.
“So far, the [Center 21] sale has been a little bit over-run,” Rosanbalm said. “It looks like they’re getting a little bit more than I expected them to. It’s a weight-scale, so we’re paying on actual delivery, and it looks like it’s doing very well.
“It’s all thin, the actual harvest is done, and we’re just waiting for them [to start] shipping logs little by little.”
Rosanbalm said the county should see an initial deposit for Center 21 in early 2025.
He added he expects the county to start receiving payments from Penny Wise sometime in the third quarter and wrapping up in the fourth. He said the county can expect its initial deposit for that property’s sale in early 2025 as well, though it may come through sooner.
“Jupiter, I don’t know what’s happening there,” Rosanbalm said “I haven’t been out there and I’ve hardly had a chance to talk to anyone about it, but it sounds like the fell and bucked is burned. I’ve never lost a sale to fire in my 40 years. They still are on the hook for us. We’ll see what happens.”
The purchaser already has paid for most of the sale, Rosanbalm said.
The county’s portion of DNR sales is distributed between junior taxing districts based on where the sales take place, among other factors. In the case of these forests, sales mostly will go toward the funding of local schools and fire districts.
Bill Wells, DNR Olympic Region manager, attended Monday’s meeting via Zoom, noting that his absence was directly due to Brinnon’s 2620 Road Fire.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
