Olympic Peninsula Environmental News

Recently two strongly worded Op-Ed pieces ran in the Seattle Times, highlighting a growing rift between the efforts of Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz and Democratic Senator Kevin Van de Wege of the Olympic Peninsula. Both Franz and Van de Wege are staunch Democrats, both often attend the local fish fry’s and usually have been seen as being on the same page.

However, in the last months, to highlight Earth Day, Commissioner Franz went out on a limb to lock up forests (also known by the title “Working Forests” for the fact that they are usually cut down at some point) and trade the lock for “carbon offsets” to polluters.

On the face of it, this might seem like an innocuous “good thing” to do. But it appears that Commissioner Franz decided on this for her own reasons, perhaps to gain an opportunity to host President Biden when he was here, and gain a photo op of her and the President Biden on his trip here in April. Her announcement included protection of forests in Whatcom, Thurston, King and Grays Harbor counties. Oddly missing was Clallam and Jefferson Counties, two counties that non-profits working hard to get Franz to save some old growth that is planned on being harvested this summer. Also, it apparently was done with little or no involvement of Senator Van de Wege, who then launched his own scathing Op-Ed piece denouncing Franz move, one he said “…should be effective, measurable and transparent — standards notably ignored in the Washington Department of Natural Resources’ recent decision to set aside more state trust lands as carbon reserves while selling carbon offsets that allow industrial polluters to keep polluting.”

Van de Wege went on, “Whatever actions we take, our climate policies should be effective, measurable and transparent — standards notably ignored in the Washington Department of Natural Resources’ recent decision to set aside more state trust lands as carbon reserves while selling carbon offsets that allow industrial polluters to keep polluting.

“…DNR adopted this fundamental change of course in state policy without honoring traditional safeguards such as thorough analyses, public hearings and oversight by the state Legislature or Board of Natural Resources.

“While in the past DNR has acknowledged that the sale, exchange or purchase of trust lands must be approved by the Board of Natural Resources, in this case the agency has notably declined to commit to honoring the board’s oversight. At best, DNR has offered only vague promises of “engagement” to some undefined and uncertain degree.

He finished by saying, “Did DNR adequately analyze the impact of unintended consequences from its proposed carbon lease? Reducing the responsible timber harvest in Washington state will decrease our state’s capacity to produce wood products, leading to an increase in carbon-emitting imports from places that do not sustainably manage their forests, or the substitution of concrete and steel, both of which are significant contributors to carbon emissions.

“Until these troubling questions are answered, the state should not proceed with a carbon reserve policy that may be neither effective, measurable nor transparent while undermining well-established practices that combat climate change and support rural communities.”

This blog has been highly critical of Ms. Franz approach to her leasing the Dungeness Spit to a commercial aquaculture farm, over the objections of numerous significant environmental concerns raised by everyone from the Dungeness Spit Wildlife Refuge manager to a number of scientists and environmental organizations. As reported here before, she denied to this reporter in front of a crowd of democratic funders any knowledge of the leasing of the Spit though her signature was affixed to the document. This new initiative seems poorly thought out and even more poorly communicated within her own party.

Ms Franz, it has been rumored in Democratic circles for years, has had her eye on the Governorship. While she is clearly running for future office on her work on fighting fires in Washington State, she might worry a bit more about the political fires she herself is starting on the Olympic Peninsula. Senator Van de Wege is a powerful force in our state politics, especially for holding onto a very conservative district like Clallam County. He is known as an environmental champion, having been given that honor years ago by People For Puget Sound for his efforts to both support ending fire retardants use in industry and his support for the rescue tug at Neah Bay, which has saved many ships over the years. His Op-Ed clearly shows she has angered him, and it’s going to be very hard for her to mend that fence.

Read the whole Op-Ed by Senator Van De Wege here:

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/lack-of-transparency-clouds-management-of-trust-lands/

Read Commissioner Franz’ reply here:

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/we-must-stop-fighting-over-our-forests-and-come-together-to-start-fighting-for-our-forests/

For more on DNR’s Carbon Project that has angered Senator Van de Wege…

https://www.dnr.wa.gov/CarbonProject

Filed under: Clallam County, Environmental Law, Olympic Peninsula |