Read Forest Advocates’ Letter to Governor Ferguson Regarding Board of Natural Resources Representative
Dear Governor Ferguson, 4/26/2026
On April 18th you spoke briefly at the event supporting the Roadless Rule that Trump is attempting to rescind. You said, “This is something I feel very very strongly about personally,” speaking about times you have spent hiking and climbing in WA. We are extremely glad to know your personal feelings about forests, because 100+ year legacy forests under State control are being decimated as you read this letter. Indivisible Tacoma and the undersigned organizations are writing to ask you to immediately take actions to save the few rare structurally complex legacy forests (less than 3%) that are left in Washington State.
Indivisible Tacoma supported you because you do not take corporate donations and would not be beholden to corporate demands. Further, when you were Attorney General, you asked all AG departments to reorient themselves to include “the people” as their clients and promised to do the same with State agencies when you became Governor. We urge you to keep these significant promises!
The Legislature has entrusted the Board of Natural Resources with overseeing the management of our state forest lands, and your designee serves as a member of that Board. While other members have voted against these harvesting sales, your designee has consistently supported them. Further, some DNR/BNR problems are embedded in the State’s economy, and the solutions, which go beyond the structural purview of the Commissioner of Public Lands, can only come from your office.
We are asking you, Governor Ferguson, to take action for the following reasons:
1. Public Interest: As you can see from the wide-spread support for the federal roadless rule, the public has a strong interest in saving these forests. New polling indicates strong, widespread support among Washingtonians for protecting forests, with a 2026 survey showing that 70% of WA voters support restoring state funding for wildlife response and forest health, and 50% in strong support. https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/washington/stories-in-washington/was hington-voters-support-1168-fire-funding/
- Conflicts of Interest: The Board of Natural Resources (BNR) which makes the final decisions on whether to log these forests, consists of representatives from constituencies that benefit directly from timber sales. While the DNR is charged with multiple objectives, including: A) public access and recreation, B) protecting historic and archaeological sites. C) protecting wildlife species and habitats, D) compliance with DNR’s trust lands Habitat Conservation, E) protecting water quality, watershed systems, and aquatic habitat, F) conserving old growth, G) climate resilience, H) public health, etc., no one on the Board or Staff directly represents these interests so they are ignored. Additionally, the DNR receives funding from timber sales, which constitutes a perverse incentive to log the very forests which the general public wants to protect.
- Your BNR Appointee Always Votes to Sell: Your appointee has never voted against the sale of a forest, no matter how compelling the scientific arguments, how much public support a forest has, or the DNR/BNR failure to address the goals in #2. The recent Chai forest in the Capitol State Forest, is a case in point. Thurston County Commissioners sent three unanimous letters each year from 2023 to 2025 asking the DNR/BNR to save this forest. In spite of this unusual display of public support, the Board recently voted (4 to 2) to clearcut the Chai forest.
- Legacy Forests Do Not Have to be Logged to Meet DNR’s Near-Term Harvest Targets. There is more than enough timber inventory, according to DNR forest records, in most counties to meet these targets for at least 10 years without logging any remaining legacy forests, yet they continue to be brought to the BNR for sale. Thus, legacy forests do not have to be logged in order to maintain jobs.
- The Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) Requires DNR to Achieve 10-15% Older Complex Forests in Each Region (Planning Unit) of Washington State. In reality, the state only averages 1.5% across all regions and .5% in the South Coast Planning Unit. Where is the accountability for missing these targets? What plans are in place to assure compliance?
- The DNR Does Not Have a Current FOREST LAND PLAN as Required in the Policy for Sustainable Forests. (It is NOT a Forest Land Plan itself as DNR tries to claim). DNR Forest Health Strategic Plan
- Logging Should Not Continue Until a New Sustainable Harvest Calculation is Created that Addresses Multiple Objectives (see #2 above). These objectives have not been addressed in the past. The last Westside SHC expired in 2025. The last Eastside SHC, completed in 1996, expired in 2006!
- County and Education Support Should Not Be Dependent upon Logging Our Forests The trade-off of badly needed services at the expense of our forests is not sustainable in the near term, much less “in perpetuity!” The legacy forests will be gone while county and educational needs will still exist. Chris Reykdal, WA Superintendent of Public Instruction, is the only member of the BNR who consistently VOTES NO to logging trees and speaks out regularly to say that we need to fund counties and schools another way. It is within the Governor’s prerogative to work with agencies and the legislature to create a solution.
- The Financial Costs to Mitigate the Climate Consequences of Logging and Aerial Spraying of Carcinogenic Herbicides on Legacy Forests Will be Exponentially Higher than any Short-Term Benefits. If deforestation continues, our State and counties will bear the expenses resulting from increased floods, landslides, wildfires, water contamination, and more extreme human and ecological disasters.
PLEASE TAKE IMMEDIATE STEPS TO SAVE THESE RARE IRREPLACEABLE FORESTS BY TAKING EXECUTIVE ACTIONS AND WORKING WITH THE LEGISLATURE TO:
- Find alternative ways to fund county and educational needs. Remove the conflicts of interest held by most members of the Board.
- Work to change the composition of the BNR to include an equal number of members of the public, forestry and conservation scientists, water quality experts, Tribal culture keepers, and others who have NO investment in logging forests, NO connections with the timber industry, and who will receive NO monetary benefit for themselves or their constituencies.
- Require the DNR to abide by state regulations and requirements that govern them: Require a new Forest Land Plan be created, a new Sustainable Harvest Calculation that takes into account multiple objectives, require baseline and goals towards meeting the Habitat Conservation Plan, and so on.
- Insist that the DNR revise its mission to clarify that meeting multiple goals (multi-objective optimization) is required, not optional!
- Provide oversight for your appointee to clarify that a key part of his duty is to protect legacy forests – not simply maximize income from timber sales. If he is not open to that directive, consider appointing someone new. (In fact, all BNR members are male, and only one is not white. The Board should reflect the diversity of our state.)
WE ASK YOU, GOVERNOR FERGUSON, TO TAKE IMMEDIATE AND URGENT ACTIONS TO SAVE OUR LEGACY FORESTS! Your leadership and legacy will be greatly celebrated if you can save these irreplaceable forests.
Sincerely,
Julie Andrzejewski & Ellen Floyd, Co-Chairs
Indivisible Tacoma
Julianne Gale, Executive Director
Mason County Climate Justice