American Forest Resource Council

AFRC Washington State Manager Matt Comisky recently joined the Washington DNR Forest Health Advisory Committee for a tour of forest health projects and wood products manufacturing in northeast Washington.

The committee visited one of the first Forest Improvement Treatments completed on DNR trust lands more than 20 years ago and a restoration project in an overstocked lodgepole pine forest managed by DNR and Stevens County.

The tour concluded at AFRC member Vaagen Bros. Lumber in Colville, where committee members saw how active forest management and local manufacturing work together to support healthier forests, rural jobs, and wildfire resilience.

Tom Partin writes in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle about the Bear Palmer Project and why proactive forest management is needed to reduce wildfire risk, improve forest health, and protect the community of Jardine near Yellowstone.

Read the op-ed: https://tinyurl.com/474n2sjc

"He should keep in mind the beneficiaries he represents, including the many schools around this state that are suffering as timber revenue declines."

The Seattle Times editorial board is raising concerns about efforts to second guess professional foresters and interfere with Washington's timber sale planning process.

The editorial also highlights a reality many rural communities already know: declining timber harvests mean less revenue for schools and other trust beneficiaries that depend on these lands.

State trust lands were established to support public schools and community services. As timber revenues continue to decline, those impacts are becoming harder to ignore.

State schools chief should leave forestry to the experts | Editorial As a Natural Resources board member, Chris Reykdal’s job is to set policy, not nitpick timber sales state staff analyze before he casts an impulsive judgment.