Op-Ed: Forestry coalition proposes wilderness area

In 2002, a diverse group came together to study the management of the natural resources of the Colville National Forest. The Northeastern Washington Forestry Coalition (NEWFC), made up of logging industry officials, foresters, conservationists, government officials and others, has worked diligently over the last nine years to hash out their differences and come to some common agreement regarding both timber cutting and designation of wilderness. The group has worked together successfully on 25 timber related projects put forth by the Colville National Forest.

Stemming from their involvement with the NEWFC, two conservation groups, Conservation Northwest and the Land Council have put forth a proposed management plan for the Colville National Forest, known as the Columbia Highlands Initiative. Released in August 2010, the Initiative, if implemented, would provide for wilderness designation for about 215,000 acres, including the Kettle Crest in Ferry County. In addition, the plan would provide for designation of a national conservation area (145,000 acres), where existing motorized trails will remain open but new roads and motorized trails would be prohibited. Here, emphasis will be on enhanced recreational access and restoring old-growth forest conditions. Three national recreational areas are proposed (70,500 acres), with an emphasis on recreation, including motorized. Forest restoration areas (279,000 acres) will be managed to restore old forest conditions, as well as improve wildlife and fish habitat. In these areas, existing recreational opportunities will be allowed. Also, active forestry areas (347,000 acres) will be managed for timber sales. Finally, the proposal advances collaborative and privately-funded work with local private property owners to keep several ranches in operation for cattle production and maintenance of essential wildlife habitat.

Prior to the formation of the NEWFC, conservationists had appealed many of the Colville National Forest’s logging sales. According to Derrick Knowles, NEWFC board member and staffer at Conservation Northwest, conservationist and industry coalition members have been working together to help the National Forest put together sales amenable to all parties. There has not been an appeal to a Forest Service timber sale since the Coalition began, “The volume of timber sold in the last eight years has increased dramatically because of the Coalition,” said Knowles. This is good for the mills and good for the local economy, according to Knowles. The Initiative will build on this spirit of compromise, by providing timber for the mills and increased protection for wilderness.

Though timber sales and wilderness are probably the biggest areas of compromise involved in the Initiative, recreation is a big element as well. Certainly a key part of wilderness designation involves providing for certain kinds of recreation. Hiking, horseback riding, hunting, fishing, back country skiing and snowshoeing are all permitted in wilderness. Other forms of recreation will be allowed and even enhanced in some of the non-wilderness areas. ORV use and mountain biking are addressed in the plan and would be allowed in national conservation areas, national recreation areas, and forest restoration areas. In fact, a new trail for both hikers and mountain bikers is presently under construction in the Mount Gibraltar area near Republic.

Since the release of the Initiative, Conservation Northwest and the Lands Council have been working with Washington lawmakers, especially U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rogers and U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, to encourage them to put forth a wilderness bill to make this plan a reality.

Dick Slagle is a life-long Republic resident and outdoor enthusiast. When he was born, in the 1920s, most of the present Colville National Forest was roadless and undeveloped. During his lifetime, he has seen roads built in much of the forest, leaving only a fraction unspoiled. For this reason, he has been a long-time supporter of wilderness protection for the Kettle Range. According to Slagle, wilderness is important for many reasons. He points out that wilderness provides an unspoiled watershed. A pristine landscape holds its snowpack longer in the spring than a disturbed area, making it a better “reservoir.” Wilderness is essential to wildlife, says Slagle, as the native animals are adapted to the natural variety of plants present. “If you put in roads, erosion, the incursion of vehicles and noise will degrade the wildness of an area. When disrupted by the human hand, lots of unknown effects may result.” He added that it is the natural landscape that has attracted retirees and others who have brought their jobs with them via the Internet to Ferry County. They are now an important part of the local economy. Slagle, who spent summers as a young man as a lookout in the Kettle Range, mentioned two more values of wilderness: silence and solitude.

Some Ferry County residents strongly oppose wilderness designation for the Kettle Range. Gary Howden, member of the Riparian Owners of Ferry County and the Ferry County Cattlemen’s Association, states that the Kettle Range does not meet the criteria for a wilderness area, as defined by the 1964 Wilderness Act. Howden says the proposed wilderness area in the Kettle Range has not been a wilderness for 100 years and that there exists evidence of human habitation, including old homesites, mines and roads. Washington already has nearly 4.5 million acres of wilderness, three times the size of Ferry County. Though the Wilderness Act does, in theory, allow for cattle grazing, Howden states that cattle have been shut out of other wilderness areas by prohibitions on use of engine driven tools and vehicles to service cattle herds. Wilderness designation for the Kettle Range will seriously hurt or destroy cattle ranching in Ferry County, Howden predicts.

Opposition to the Initiative has come from environmentalists, as well. A recent article posted on the website Crosscut.com regarding the Initiative elicited a number of comments. One responder, who called himself “Snoqualman” opined that the conservation groups are giving away too much for too little. “This sounds like a timber bill to me, with increased logging labeled as ‘protection.’”

Despite this opposition, it seems that most residents of Northeastern Washington support the Columbia Highlands Initiative. A recent poll of showed that 57% supported wilderness designation for the Kettle Range and other areas, when coupled with increased logging and access to non-wilderness recreation (mountain biking and ORV riding) in other areas.

Lots of progress has been made since 2002 when the timber industry and the conservation community buried the hatchet and started to work together. The Columbia Highlands Initiative is testimony to the power of collaboration. In the words of Dick Slagle: ”The Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition has changed the way many of us think about the national forest here in Ferry County. We can work together to make a better future for our children and grandchildren, support good timber jobs and protect special places like the Kettle Crest.”

At this point, decisions on future management of the Colville National Forest rest in the hands of the Forest Service and our elected officials in DC. If you care about the results, exercise your democratic right and let your opinion be known.

Unless otherwise attributed, opinions in this column are Bill Chamberlin's.