Trust Lands History

Forests should benefit all the people, not just a few

At statehood Washington was granted lands by the federal government to help build public schools, universities, and other institutions. Today, of Washington state's 2.8 million acres of publicly owned trust lands, 1.7 million acres are used to make money for the state's common school construction fund. Forests make up 65 percent of these acres, and logging is the major activity. Example landscapes of concern to Conservation Northwest are forests in the Lake Whatcom watershed and at Blanchard Mountain, both near Bellingham.

The state Department of Natural Resources today manages these public trust lands aggressively, logging and grazing. But the cost is significant: damage to water, biodiversity, and wildlife habitat, and loss of undeveloped recreation opportunities.

Here in the 21st century, Washington continues to manage its trust lands by 19th century standards. Yet in the late 1800s, 200,000 people lived in the state; and perhaps 80 percent of our landscape in the Northwest was old-growth forest. Today, our population has grown to nearly 7 million and we have much less than 10 percent old growth left. Of state lands old growth–our lower elevation, fertile forests–there is even less.

It's time for a change. Conservation Northwest aims to reform management of our state trust lands, and to put protection of public values–such as clean water and old growth–on an equal footing with revenue generation for trust beneficiaries. A constitutional interpretation of the trust lands supports management that benefits all the people of Washington.

A balanced approach means that some state trust lands are appropriate to log, while others are far too important for other public values. We believe that there are many creative solutions to the state's school funding challenges, and we stand ready to support the beneficiaries in identifying creative funding opportunities.