‘Do the right thing:’ Residents near proposed DNR cut plead for board to halt sale
The forests surrounding Summit Lake would have countless stories to tell, if only trees could talk.
The area, described as a hidden gem by those who live on the lake, has been loved for generations by families who continue to live there today. Jane Lanigan recalls spending time under the trees with her granddaughter last year.
In the summer, Lanigan left a tea set under a tree so her granddaughter could discover the “fairy’s tea.” She said they watch the landlocked Kokanee salmon spawn in the fall and search for butterflies and frogs along the stream.
“This fosters her love of nature,” Lanigan said.
But those 16 acres of trees are also the Department of Natural Resources’ Delica 1 Hardwood sale, which may be sold in a timber auction and then cut later this year.
Lanigan and several other residents of the Summit Lake neighborhood attended a DNR board meeting last week to express their concerns that the cut could damage houses, private property and the lake that provides residents with drinking water.
Lanigan said she sent the board a video of rain runoff from streams in the Delica tree area, which could increase tenfold after the timber harvest, carrying chemicals from the cuts down into Summit Lake along with sediment.
She said so far she hasn’t been given any evidence that studies have been done on the long-term effects of these chemicals on people. And toxic algae blooms have become more frequent with sediment pouring into the lake.
“The absence of evidence is not the same as safe,” she said. “Would you let your grandchildren drink that water?”
The proposed cut sits right against private property, including that of JC Davis, who spearheaded a DNR meeting with residents last November.
Davis is hoping the DNR can provide them with up-to-date geologic surveys that show the possibility of landslides and sediment runoff as well as hydrology reports. The streams that start up in the Delica trees run next to his driveway for dozens of feet before dipping into a culvert and out to Summit Lake. He’s worried the cuts will lead to stronger streams and more sediment.
DNR has told him he should install a new culvert to prevent the water from taking out his driveway.
He’s seen it happen before. Tom Anderson, a resident of the community for more than 45 years, blames previous DNR cuts for almost taking out his cabin.
During the May 3 meeting, Anderson said he has land that adjoins DNR land and has experienced wind damage to the trees on his property after trees further up the hill were cut. Some of the hills rise nearly 800 feet above the lake, according to topographic data.
Anderson said his 1942 cabin sits in a grove of trees more than 100 years old that should be protected, as well as a seasonal stream that sees Kokanee salmon spawning yearly.
“This stream originates in the proposed 16-acre Delica harvest upland to the south of us,” Anderson said. “Our neighbor said in the early 1960s it was barely a trickle.”
The stream flows at its highest from fall through the spring, going under the road and passing through two culverts, put in by Anderson, at the beginning and end of the cabin property. In the last 15 years, Anderson said they’ve seen three major flooding events, one of which destroyed one of the culverts and nearly destroyed the cabin and the neighboring house. It also dumped tons of rocks and silt into their yard and the lake.
“I am concerned that any logging activity could and will destabilize an already fragile watershed and I and my neighbors will suffer the consequences and financial loss,” Anderson said.
Several people spoke at the meeting in favor of the DNR’s proposed cuts and the revenue associated with it. Doug Cooper from Hampton Lumber, an 80-year-old company with 10 sawmills throughout the Pacific Northwest, said the state-owned lumber they process puts roughly $250 million into rural communities every year.
Cooper said he wants the board to take immediate action to pause the proposed carbon sequestration project and continue providing timber to lumber companies. The
Several others supported the department’s carbon sequestration program, and many called for the board to save more old-growth forests in the state. The DNR announced in April it will preserve 10,000 acres of state lands in Washington for carbon mitigation, making Washington the first state with such a program.
Through the program’s first phase focused on “priority trees,” 3,750 acres will be placed in protected status, including acres in Thurston County. The majority of the acres in this first phase were already planned for harvests. Despite this, Davis said the Summit Lake residents haven’t heard anything from the DNR on whether the Delica harvest is included. Davis said they plan to show up at every meeting to keep up the fight.
DNR spokesman Kenny Ocker said the department has continued to provide feedback to neighbors concerned about the Delica Hardwood timber sale. He said their deputy supervisor for state uplands and the South Puget Sound region manager have been meeting individually with neighbors and their representatives.
“We have worked throughout the development of the timber sale to address neighbors’ concerns and have increased the amount of leave trees to be retained during harvest, in part to mitigate visual impact concerns that we have received,” Ocker said.
He said their regional geologist prepared a slope stability report, which states all possible geologic hazards within the timber sale boundary are buffered with leave trees or otherwise mitigated to keep it at low risk of reactivating.
“Our staff experts have designed buffers, roads, and harvest units to prevent hydrological issues, even in a peak flow event,” he said.
Rick Spero and his wife have lived in the area for five years. He said his well system runs off the lake and he’s worried the cut could damage the water quality.
“If the runoff caused by cutting down these trees washes out our roads and houses, we will have to live with it,” Spero said. “If the herbicides affect our drinking water, and we are forced to buy water for years, we will have to live with it.”
Spero told the board the potential damages the cut could cause will be much more than what the sale is worth. He asked them if they were living near it if they would continue with the sale.
“Please do the right thing and vote no on this sale,” he said.
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