County seeking legislation for timberland transfer

Wahkiakum County commissioners on Tuesday signed a letter to Governor Jay Inslee requesting Inslee's assistance in upgrading the county's trust timberlands.

In the past, the county has derived substantial revenue from state managed timberland. However, since 1999, approximately 3,000 of the county's 12,600 acres have been set aside as habitat for endangered species and are therefore off limits to harvest which results in a reduced base of revenue for county government.

County officials have long sought compensation for the encumbered lands and have had some success. A forestry consultant valued the timber on the 3,000 acres at $30 million, Commissioner Dan Cothren said Tuesday, and so far, the county has received only $800,000.

The legislation would impact three counties, Wahkiakum, Pacific and Skamania, all of whom have encumbered trust lands and who have experienced revenue shortfalls.

"Timber counties should not be forced to bear the burden of the public responsibility to protect endangered species," the letter says. "This is a statewide responsibility, and counties, like Wahkiakum, that are dependent upon our natural resources, should have other solutions available to them."

The letter will also go to a host of legislators, and Cothren will head to Olympia this Friday to lobby for legislation to enact the proposal.

Under the two-part plan, encumbered county trust land would be exchanged with harvestable Common School Trust Land. Next, the encumbered lands would be placed into the Trust Land Transfer Program to compensate Common School Trust. In the end, the encumbered lands would be preserved as habitat for the endangered species.

"This plan will not only benefit Wahkiakum County and the Common School Trust into the future," the letter says, "but it will also offer long-term habitat protection and enhancement for the endangered species of Southwest Washington."

The plan was developed with the help of Columbia Land Trust, a non-profit environmental group that focuses on habitat preservation and enhancement.

Cothren was visiting Skamania commissioners this week to go over the plan with them. Because different endangered species are involved, habitat preservation issues are different in Skamania than in Pacific and Wahkiakum counties. Also, Skamania has new commissioners unfamiliar with the issue, and Cothren feels he may have to win their support.

Nevertheless, Wahkiakum commissioners will press for the legislation.

"I'm moving ahead," Cothren said Tuesday. "I've seen the writing on the wall. With these things (conservation set asides) placed on the land, we're not going to get anything from it."