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Resolution 1002 – Supporting a new approach to Forest Lands
September 25, 2022
- WHEREAS greenhouse gasses from the combustion of fossil fuels and other human activity have
- raised the average temperature of the climate 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels
- (1), and natural climate solutions have the potential to sequester up to one-third of the emissions
- necessary to meet global 2030 climate goals (2), with reforestation and natural forest management
- standing out as having the most sequestration potential while being very cost effective (3), and
- WHEREAS the Pacific Northwest forest biome is among the best in the world at sequestering
- carbon while supporting biodiversity (4), and Washington State’s older forests are essential to meet
- the State’s goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but under current state forest
- policy, older forests are being clear-cut at an alarming rate of 5,000 acres per year (5), and
- WHEREAS the Supreme Court of Washington State, in Conservation Northwest v Lands
- Commissioner, determined that the state’s Department of Natural Resources has “myriad ways” to
- generate revenue from state forestlands or otherwise put them to use for the benefit of the trust
- beneficiaries (6), and
- WHEREAS Washington State’s Trust Land Transfer program has proven to be an effective tool for
- retaining ecosystem service and special lands in public ownership while sustaining and improving
- potential future economic returns for trust beneficiaries,
- THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Washington State Democratic Central Committee calls
- upon the Board of Natural Resources to oversee the development of a new Forest Conservation
- and Management Plan for State Trust Lands that restores forest health, protects biodiversity, and
- maximizes carbon storage and sequestration, while conserving the remaining legacy forests of
- Western Washington in a way that accelerates the development of structurally complex forests in
- areas that lack complexity, or are vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire, disease, or pest infestation,
- and
- THEREFORE IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED that the new Plan should be developed in close
- consultation with independent scientists who are not beholden to the timber industry, and
- THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be sent to the Governor of the State of
- Washington, Washington State House and Senate Democrats, the members of the
- Board of Natural Resources, the Commissioner of Public Lands, the Superintendent of Public
- Instruction, the Presidents and Regents of the University of Washington, and the President and
- Trustees of Washington State University, Eastern Washington University, Central Washington
- University, Western Washington University, and The Evergreen State College.
Tags: Environment