Much of Washington’s early history revolves around the commercial development of public and private forestland. Trees blanket more than 21 million of the state’s 42 million total acres. These trees are a unique shared resource for the state’s residents. They provide environmental assets, by enhancing water and air quality, sheltering salmon-bearing streams and granting unmatched recreational opportunities. Our forests are also an economic resource, supporting thousands of jobs in private industry and providing hundreds of millions of dollars to fund public schools and local government through revenues from state timber harvests.
In the early days of settlement the state’s forests were valued more for their economic productivity than for their environmental or recreational uses. Today, that view has changed. Washington residents, policymakers and businesses recognize the balance necessary for maintaining a healthy environment and a healthy timber economy. But more recent policy changes introduced an unhealthy reliance on restrictive, cookie-cutter regulations designed to protect the environment. Just as early logging practices exploited a valuable renewable asset, current environmental regulations place unnecessarily heavy restrictions on one of the state’s most productive assets.
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