By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – The effort to stop the harvest of a 126-acre patch of timber along the Elwha River known as the Power Plant forest will continue this Friday when opponents will appear in Clallam County Superior Court.
On June 30, the Earth Law Center, the Center for Whale Research, and the Keystone Species Alliance filed a legal action challenging the “Power Plant” timber sale. That challenge was denied by Judge Simon Barnhart and the timber auction was conducted on July 26. The winning bid was $656,000 by the Murphy Company based in Eugene, Oregon.
The company has not started logging the site, and attorney Elizabeth Dunne, representing the Earth Law Center, is going to request in court Friday that there be a 3 month halt on logging activity at the Power Plant site because the state Dept. of Natural Resources has caused a 3 month delay in their case.
“And the basis for that is that there’s a very clear law in Washington that, in this type of case, requires the DNR to prepare the record, that’s everything that the judge will look at and consider in the full merits of the case, within 30 days of the keys being filed. And the DNR has been, about, a little over three months late in providing that. And so, that has delayed our ability to get the case fully briefed and before the judge for a decision. And what we’re asking the court to do is, say to DNR, “You need to stop all logging activity for three months”, because that’s how long this case has been delayed.”
The lawsuit alleges that DNR failed to consider how the logging could impact salmon and orca populations. The Power Plant section also borders popular recreation routes such as the Olympic Adventure Trail, and they say timber harvest is incompatible with the ongoing restoration of the Elwha River since the dam removals that were completed in 2014.
Joining them in opposing this timber harvest are State Representatives Mike Chapman and Steve Tharinger, and the City of Port Angeles has submitted a Trust Land Transfer application to the DNR.
“That’s actually a program available through DNR that would allow transfer of Power Plant and other forests like it in the Elwha watershed to the City to be protected for the health of the watershed and all the benefits we get from the forest.”