In 2021, the Center for Responsible Forestry (CRF) raised the alarm on the plans to auction a state timber sale known as Upper Rutsatz Sorts. The sale consisted of two units totalling 99 acres, with roughly 90 acres including naturally regenerated 130 year-old forest, old growth forest remnants, and hundreds of trees over four feet in diameter— some reaching eight feet in diameter! Sitting high on the steep slopes above the confluence of the North Fork and Middle Fork Nooksack Rivers, the Upper Rutsatz area contains a significant portion of the remaining unprotected older, structurally complex forest in Whatcom County.
Protecting Upper Rutsatz
RE Sources’ staff and supporters joined hundreds of Whatcom County residents who spoke out in opposition to the sale, citing the increasing understanding of the role of older, structurally complex forests in maintaining watershed health and contributing to the region’s capacity to buffer the worst effects of climate change in the coming decades. In response to public pressure and concern, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced it had paused the sale of Upper Rutsatz in January 2022 as the agency reevaluated its policies on older forests.
The groundswell of public interest in the landscape-level role of older forests like Upper Rutsatz has led the County to take bold action for climate resilience and watershed health in our region in the following years, including securing the protection of 650 acres in Whatcom County in 2024 using funds generated by Washington’s 2021 Climate Commitment Act (CCA).
Urge Whatcom County to permanently protect Upper Rutsatz as part of the 2025 CCA-funded forest conservation efforts!
A Forest in Limbo
Unfortunately, for unknown reasons Upper Rutsatz wasn’t selected for conservation using CCA funding. Following the sale’s pause, the area was also considered as a candidate for Phase II of the now stalled-out DNR carbon pilot project. Upper Rutsatz is now listed for harvest in “2100” — a default date inputted for sales that are temporarily paused, a status that could change with very little notice.
Whatcom County came together in 2021 around the agreement that Upper Rutsatz is worth more left standing– let’s ensure that we finish what we started and secure permanent protection for Upper Rutsatz forever.
An Opportunity for Permanent Protection
Thanks to WA voters, the CCA survived attacks from multimillionaire-funded I-2117 in the 2024 election cycle, and continues to generate essential revenue for climate solutions projects statewide. (Shoutout to our Community Engagement Specialist Seth Mangold, who knocked the most doors in WA state to mobilize voters to protect CCA!)
This year, RE Sources worked with partners during the legislative session to secure another $10 million of CCA funding for mature forest protection in the 2025 budget. This funding will give counties another chance to ask the DNR to protect state trust lands with mature forests of exceptional value for carbon storage and habitat, without adversely impacting the trust beneficiaries like counties and schools that currently receive money from DNR timber sales.
The agency uses conservation funding to purchase private timberlands that will be managed by DNR to generate replacement revenue, allowing the agency to conserve mature forests that would have otherwise been logged. The replacement lands will be logged to generate revenue, but they’ll be managed to a higher conservation standard than they had been previously, as the DNR maintains a higher standard for public lands management than is required on private land.
There’s something exciting and new in the budget language this year: RE Sources, CRF, and state partners worked with Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) to provide counties the option to get a portion of their replacement value in cash up front, in addition to replacement lands that grow the total number of acres managed in trust for beneficiaries. We advocated for this small but mighty change to account for the unique experience of trust beneficiaries like Mount Baker School district, who have critical short term financial needs to address while the benefits of the expanded trust lands accrue longer term. This added flexibility in replacement revenues allows counties to choose what best meets the needs of their trust beneficiaries as they invest in the long term resilience of their region as a whole.
A Win-Win-Win Outcome
Let’s finish what we started, and protect Upper Rutsatz for good! The 2025 CCA conservation funding opportunity is a truly win-win-win solution that honors multiple years of work to build public support for mature forest conservation, recognize the short and long term resource needs within our county, and improve outcomes in all areas of our community’s shared future together.