I moved to the Joyce area in early 2019. In the past few years, many local hills have been denuded, with large DNR clearcuts. Paved roads in the area are often excessively dusty, too, primarily due to log-truck traffic coming down from these logged areas.

The beauty of these forests remains, but is diminished. Sometimes I start to wonder: could it be that at least a few local long-time residents actually like the logging as a deterrent against new residents? Would those (like me) who love the fresh and wild nature of this area, would we be discouraged enough to not move here, because of the logging destruction?

Barely more than a hundred years ago, vast swaths around here were unlogged, dark forests dominated by cedar trees often 8- to 12-ft in diameter. You can still find the stumps from those times, with springboard notches cut for positioning loggers for the use of axes and long-bladed handsaws. These stumps are slowly rotting and none may remain in another generation or two.

So, when we head out on the trails, and enjoy the moss and old trees and giant stumps, we may find new markings: cardboard ‘Timber Sale’ signs, colored flagging, paint stripes on trees, etc. What do these markings mean? Is a cut coming, how far in the future, and do we have a meaningful voice to advocate to keep any of the forest?

When you see these markings, DNR is already deep into the process of a Timber Sale, and inertia preempts effective advocacy. DNR has a long history and inclination to sell cheap timber to mills and logging companies. The prevailing public attitude is these trees fund a variety of government services. All it takes is a small amount of pull, such as by a local fire district joining a timber industry lawsuit to accelerate DNR sales. That’s precisely why the hills around Joyce have been logged in the past few years.

The current public attitude inclines towards logging, to reduce property tax burdens. But, that attitude fails to do a real cost/benefit analysis. A fraction of each Timber Sale bid fee and bid price goes to various local government services. On top of that, each truckload of logs produces a payment back to DNR, typically $9 per thousand board feet (MBF). Thus, a sale like Ode to Joyce, estimating roughly 6 million board feet of logs, generates roughly $54,000 for the logs, above the bid pricing. Paltry revenues, especially when recognized as a tenth of the property taxes paid to the local fire district, which voters approved to double back in 2019.

Revenues form the actual bid process can be very significant, even more so if high-quality 100+-yr-old logs are cut, as for the current Ode to Joyce Timber Sale. But, these revenues are then substantially reduced by contract costs, like road maintenance and new road building, or the $15K paid to add a gate to close Joyce-Access Rd from public use.

It would be valuable to know just what fraction of bid revenues actually flows to the local fire district, the local school district, etc, … and also to know, if DNR accepted a push by citizens to preserve one acre of wetlands or two acres along the Olympic Adventure Trail, how much would that reduce the revenues to these local districts? Because, frankly, the dollar cost of saving a few trees may be a bargain. Each acre on average offers 48 MBF of logs, which generates ~$450 per acre on those log trucks. Do the marginal revenues (per acre) of DNR cut exceed the marginal cost (lost wetlands), or would portions of the overall Timber Sale fail a cost/benefit analysis? If, before DNR puts the TImber Sale up for bid, the local taxpayers were offered a chance to remove small portions of the planned cut, to support local trails and other benefits, how paltry would be the revenue reduction be for the local governmental services?

I have seen too many of these cuts, and am not convinced they benefit anyone but the Timber Sale bid-winning logging firm and the mills. We are losing so much, and so fast. We need DNR to change the balance of power, to vest a stronger voice to local residents.