County revenue: Good news, then bad news

As has happened before, Wahkiakum County officials received a mix of good news and bad news Tuesday when representatives of the state Department of Natural Resources reported their projections for revenue off state managed county timber trust lands.

Regional Manager Steve Ogden first reported that the county should receive $1.3 million this year, up slightly from the estimate earlier this year.

However, Ogden estimated 2015 revenue at $746,000, down from $850,000 estimated earlier this year.

Ogden said markets had declined, leading him to lower his estimate. He added he wanted to estimate conservatively so that there is little chance of a surprise that a sale will produce less revenue than expected.

A sale planned for 2016 should generate about $1.4 million. This is close to the average for the past seven years, Ogden said, which is $1.45 million.

County commissioners welcomed the news for 2014 but were disappointed for 2015. County officials would like to have $1.2 million in timber revenue fund a basic level of services.

Commission Chair Dan Cothren commented that it's hard for the county government to make up a drop like that.

Cothren said he knows the regional DNR staff understand the county's revenue needs, "but if there's any possibility to find extra volume for us without affecting things down the road, it would be really appreciated."

Ogden explained that the DNR harvests from its various trusts state wide so that there is a sustainable yield. Regional foresters are aware that the county needs a certain level of revenue, and they try to include enough volume from the county's trust so that the harvests produce the desired revenue, but there's not always enough volume available.

A large block of county timberland in the Skamokawa area has been set aside from harvest because it's habitat for an endangered species, the marbled murrelet. The legislature has agreed to compensate the county for the land, and the county recently received a check for $319,000. Another $73,000 was allocated to purchase new timberland.

Commissioners want to purchase more timberland to expand the timber revenue base, but that's proving difficult, Cothren said.

Investment firms have become disenchanted with returns from market investments and have begun purchasing timberland, Cothren said, often paying a higher price than what the land would normally be worth.

Regional Manager Eric Wisch commented that land available for purchase would probably be recently logged or have very young stands on it, so that harvest would be 30-40 years in the future.

"We're in it for the long haul," Cothren said. "We've got to act now. It's a slow death for us otherwise.

Commissioner Blair Brady asked if Wisch knew of anything that would restrain the county from purchasing more timberland.

"I don't know of any," Wisch said, "but it hasn't ever been done."

"We just need to know that we can do it," Brady said.