The Friends of Clark County (FOCC) and Legacy Forest Defense Coalition (LFDC) jointly filed a lawsuit last week in Superior Court, alleging multiple violations by the Washington state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to the Forest Practices Act and its own Habitat Conservation Plan and Policy for Sustainable Forests in regard to the Dabbler timber sale.
The planned Dabbler timber sale in northeastern Clark County consists of 140 harvestable acres out of 156 in total managed by DNR. The land is mainly composed of Douglas fir trees. The timber value was appraised at $3,141,000, but the American Forest Resource Council estimates the auction sale could reach a higher value, a previous article by the Reflector states. Through taxing districts, the sale could provide Battle Ground Public Schools an estimated $677,463 and $150,843 to North Country EMS, along with other beneficiaries.
The Legacy Forest Defense Coalition and Friends of Clark County announced on Dec. 30 they filed a lawsuit challenging the Dabbler timber sale. Filed in Clark County Superior Court, the lawsuit alleges violations of state environmental laws and policies by DNR and seeks to prevent the destruction of “rare forest ecosystems vital to the region's biodiversity and climate resilience,” a news release by the Friends of Clark County stated.
"The Dabbler timber sale targets forests that are over 120 years old, featuring diverse
canopies and critical habitats for species like the Northern Spotted Owl," LFDC Director Stephen Kropp said in the release. "Logging these forests violates DNR's own policies, which require protection of older forests to achieve long-term conservation and biodiversity
goals."
According to a species map on eBird, managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, there is no documentation of the Northern Spotted Owl among or within 20 miles of the Dabbler timber sale area between the years of 1900 and 2025.
The forests slated for logging are located in the Columbia Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) planning unit, where DNR has failed to meet its obligation to designate at least 10 to 15% of state lands as structurally complex, older forests — a requirement under DNR’s own Policy for Sustainable Forests, the release stated.
“This timber sale not only threatens local biodiversity but also undermines efforts to combat climate change, which is now one of the goals of the Washington Growth Management Act that Clark County must comply with its current Comprehensive Plan Update,” the release stated. “Mature forests like those in the Dabbler area play a critical role in carbon sequestration, watershed health, and wildlife habitat preservation. Adjacent to the proposed sale area is a rare, 30-acre patch of old-growth forest that provides essential habitat for sensitive and threatened species. The proposed logging would also jeopardize the ecological health of the nearby Siouxon Creek watershed.”
According to the release, Friends of Clark County works with community partners and policymakers to keep it a thriving place to live. This means complying with state and local laws.
“This sale is a direct assault on the ecological heritage of Clark County," Ann Foster,
of Friends of Clark County, said in the release. "It is irresponsible to sacrifice these forests for short-term revenue, especially when DNR has not fulfilled its mandate to protect our legacy forests for future generations. The importance of legacy trees for carbon sequestration can’t be
understated — we need legacy trees to meet our new climate goals.”
According to the release, the lawsuit highlights several violations by DNR, including:
Old growth forest management targets are the primary means provided in the HCP and DNR's Policy for Sustainable Forests for achieving older forest objectives in the Columbia region. Federal permits require that DNR maintain or restore between 10 to 15% of state forestlands to old growth conditions by the year 2096. DNR has not met these goals in any part of the state, the Friends of Clark County claim.
In the lawsuit, LFDC and FOCC are asking the Superior Court to invalidate the Board of Natural
Resource's approval of the Dabbler timber sale based on DNR's failure to account for the timber sale's “probable and significant adverse impacts” to the environment, the release states.
