By Jake Goldstein-Street | Reporter
Welcome back to the Daily Standard's weekend edition, where we recap some of the week's top stories.
Quote of the week: “It takes time to change a system that has been in place since statehood.”
That’s Washington’s public lands commissioner, Dave Upthegrove, responding to the criticism he expects after announcing this week that he couldn’t make his goal of protecting 77,000 acres of older state forests from logging possible. Upthegrove instead dropped the figure to 55,000 acres, in part blaming mapping errors for the previous higher number. Many parcels included in the original figure comprised just one acre or less. Others were already protected in one way or another, he said. Those 55,000 acres worth of forests are now exempt from logging until 2030.
But the first-term commissioner is now calling on the state Legislature to give his agency, the Department of Natural Resources, broader authority to generate revenue from state lands that avoid selling them for timber.
Ideas include leasing out older forests to municipalities, tribes or nonprofits for a similar price to what they would receive if sold in a timber auction, or allowing the department to enter state forests into regulatory carbon markets, in which companies could buy allowances to offset their pollution.
Activists have fought in court and bureaucratic arenas to stop logging on these lands, which they’ve dubbed “legacy forests.” While running for the statewide office in 2024, Upthegrove promised to preserve these older, but not necessarily old-growth, forests.
Some of those activists reacted to the latest news with frustration.
Joshua Wright, program director of the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition, accused Upthegrove of shifting blame to lawmakers.
“He got elected on a campaign that was all about changing DNR,” Wright said. “And now that he’s in DNR, he’s telling the public it’s not his job to change DNR. It’s actually the legislature’s.”
READ MORE: Lands commissioner calls on Legislature to approve, fund conservation of state forests | by Aspen Ford
News tips, feedback, questions? Email us: [email protected]
By Kelsey Turner, InvestigateWest
The state will not face legal consequences for negligent investigations into exploitation of vulnerable residents let down by Adult Protective Services after a Washington State Court of Appeals ruling in June. Washington judges found APS has no mandate to actually investigate reported abuse under state law. While many other states — including Oregon, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Alaska, Florida and others — require government agencies to investigate reports of vulnerable adult abuse, the judges in the case found that Washington has a specific loophole: It requires APS to “initiate a response” to a report, but not to “investigate.”
Where’s the governor?
Stuck in transit. The governor couldn’t make it to Climate Week in New York City due to flight disruptions affecting the northeast United States. He was stuck at Sea-Tac for hours waiting for his flight that was eventually canceled. So he missed the in-person announcement with California Gov. Gavin Newsom that Washington is getting another step closer to linking its carbon market with the one led by California and Quebec, Canada. He had to settle for providing a written statement on the development.
He was also supposed to be there to help unveil a partnership between the U.S. Climate Alliance, of which Ferguson is co-chair, and Climate Mayors. Members of the governor’s staff and state Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller made it to New York for Climate Week, though.
Before this, over the weekend he launched the inaugural Governor’s Cup Chess Tournament. Ferguson often talks about his past as a chess master.
Looking forward, Ferguson is expected in the Spokane area on Monday for an event on his proposal for a bell-to-bell school cellphone ban and to announce his request to President Donald Trump for federal aid stemming from the wildfires that beset the east side of the state this summer.
IN OTHER NEWS THIS WEEK…
More than two years of construction and $131 million later, a historic building on the Washington state Capitol campus is reopening..
State toxicology labs are dealing with an enormous backlog of alcohol and drug test evidence that could delay or jeopardize DUI prosecutions, officials warn.
Younger voters and voters of color in Washington state see their ballots challenged for signature issues more often than their older and white counterparts.
Nearly five months after its launch, roughly half of the $112 million in available vouchers have been requested under Washington’s electric truck incentive program.
A federal judge tossed the Trump administration’s lawsuit against Washington seeking the state’s voter rolls, in line with many rulings across the country.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his authorization to move forward with linking Washington into its carbon market that’s shared with Quebec, Canada.
A grassroots organization has successfully raised enough money to spare 29 acres of trees on state forestland in the Northern Olympic Peninsula from being cut down.
Thanks for reading The Daily Standard. Did you know our daily morning newsletter is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.