The trees of the Pacific Northwest are legendary. They blanket mountains and foothills and line city streets, providing respite from the summer heat. They drip Pacific Ocean fog from mossy branches, their canopies nurturing life in lush and shady understories — at the same time packing away tons of planet-warming carbon.
Some of the oldest forests here are owned by Washington state, and there’s a growing war over their future. These lands are prized for their ecological benefits, but also for their value as top-tier timber.
Auctions of these forests draw millions of dollars for state coffers, providing essential services to rural communities. Yet if they are let to grow, their benefit as trees is amplified.
In months of interviews and field visits to older state forests from South Sound to Hood Canal to the Olympic Peninsula, The Seattle Times explored this controversy.
We met with loggers, visited old mills and towns that rely on this coveted timber for livelihoods. We met with educators and hospital workers who praise an industry that provides essential services across rural Washington.
We met the activists in the woods, who are fighting for a future in which climate change doesn’t upend everything they love and value.
In text, video and graphics, The Times brought this complicated story to voters, who in November elected a change candidate to lead the state office tasked with cutting trees for revenue. In his first days on the job, he put a pause on the controversial practice, a first.
Where the conversation leads next is uncertain. But The Times’ report revealed a story not yet told and illuminated some of the tough choices a society must weigh in an era of climate change.
