Blanchard Mountain Agreement

Landmark recommendations

At the end of 2007 an historic collaborative agreement was reached  for forest management of Blanchard Mountain, the southernmost tip of the Chuckanut Mountain range and the only place where the Cascades touch the sea. This parcel of public lands forest managed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is a uniquely spectacular one, well loved for its beauty, mature forests, and recreational opportunities. It is surrounded by lands at its foothills that either have been converted to development or are at great risk of conversion.

The DNR has for years planned to clearcut much of the mountain, crisscrossing its core forest with miles of logging roads. Those plans met fierce resistance from conservationists, recreation enthusiasts, and the broader community.

In 2006, then-Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland convened a group of diverse interests, including Conservation Northwest, called the Blanchard Strategies Group. The stakeholder group was charged with developing a set of recommendations for the future of Blanchard's forests.

Learn more at a Q & A on the Blanchard agreement

The outcome was just as surprising as the diverse stakeholder group coming to a consensus. The Blanchard Strategies Group agreement includes a protected 1,600-acre roadless core containing the lakes and cliffs on the mountain's top, most of the trail systems, and a linkage to Larrabee State Park. Also receiving protection under existing rules are habitat for rare plants and animals, streamside forests, and slopes highly visible from Chuckanut Drive and other viewpoints. 

This core is 1,300 acres more than the DNR wanted to give up and 1,000 acres less than what conservationists have been fighting for the last 10 years. It was a painful agreement all around. But in the eyes of the conservationists, the Blanchard Strategies Group agreement made up for that by finding unexpected common ground around the idea of expanding state, public lands ownership in the area.

Working forest, not development

Finding compromises such as the Blanchard Strategies Group agreement is key to keeping habitat in place over the next century. Grouping land allocations into a large swath of public ownership in the Chuckanuts is an important step to keeping the forests intact and stopping the encroaching development.

The Blanchard Strategies Group and the public encouraged the state legislature to appropriate in the 2007 budget at least $5 million towards the overall goal of $12.5 million over five years. Most of these funds would go toward the acquisition of timberlands adjacent to Blanchard Mountain, which DNR will manage to produce revenue for the trusts, while the remaining amount will go toward the DNR costs.

In April 2007 the Washington State budget passed with $4 million in the Capital Budget Bill to purchase lands in the Chuckanuts adjacent to Blanchard Mountain.

Future of the agreement unclear

In July 2008, a judge ruled that the Blanchard Strategies Group process needs to go through environmental analysis. This case is still in the courts.

That it has to go through a whole new process is unfortunate because it places the benefits of the agreement at risk and will not necessarily lead to a better outcome:

• The ultimate decision of what to do on Blanchard remains in the hands of the public lands commissioner. In the November 2008 election Peter Goldmark replaced Doug Sutherland as commissioner, and we look forward to hearing what Mr. Goldmark will do.
• One of the major benefits of the compromise was funding to purchase adjacent timberlands and protect against potential conversion to housing development. DNR is currently talking with potential sellers and will be making a decision whether or not to acquire these properties using the already-appropriated $4 million general fund “Blanchard Mountain” legislative appropriation. It is not clear if the legislature will continue additional funding for land acquisition while the case continues to be appealed or while the environmental analysis is conducted.