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Elwha Watershed: Logging Threatens Drinking Water
6 Jun
Summary
- Suit targets logging of nearly 400 acres of old-growth forest.
- Logging may directly threaten Port Angeles' drinking water source.
- Oldest trees in sales date back to the 1880s, lawsuit argues.
Three environmental groups are suing the Washington Department of Natural Resources to halt timber sales affecting nearly 400 acres of state forestland in the Elwha Watershed. The lawsuit, filed in Clallam County Superior Court, argues the agency inadequately assessed the environmental impacts of two timber sales, "Parched" and "Tree Well."
These logging operations are seen as a direct threat to Port Angeles' drinking water, which originates from the Elwha River. Environmentalists argue that the mature forests, some dating back to the 1880s, are crucial for wildlife habitat, carbon storage, and maintaining summer streamflows.
The Department of Natural Resources approved the timber sales in a 4-2 vote in November 2024. The sales, purchased for $6.8 million by Murphy Company, constitute less than 1% of the watershed. Legal challenges aim to prevent logging before a court decision, recalling a past instance where logging occurred before a lawsuit was resolved.
Concerns also extend to potential herbicide contamination of the Elwha River and the agency's failure to adequately study alternatives to logging. Despite a legislative allocation for an ecological analysis of the watershed, the contested tracts are not included, leaving local tribal members worried about the depletion of natural resources they rely on.
