WA sets aside 2,000 acres of forest for conservation, including in Sultan

ISSAQUAH — Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz announced Monday a proposal to conserve some 2,000 acres of state forest land.

The proposal includes 69 acres within the Elwha River watershed that were part of a controversial timber sale, which is now canceled.

“The community has raised significant concerns about the Elwha,” Franz told The Seattle Times in an interview on Monday. “We have a salmon crisis. That is an area where we have seen unbelievable return of habitat. We’ve seen an unbelievable return of our salmon. … So let’s include it in this 2,000 acres which was all about ensuring that we had highly ecologically valuable forests.”

The Elwha River has flowed freely since 2014 in what was the largest dam removal project ever undertaken, after decades of advocacy on behalf of the salmon and river by tribal nations and conservationists.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/wa-sets-aside-2000-acres-of-forest-for-conservation-cancels-timber-sale-near-elwha-river/