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Cancel the Alley Cat Timber Sale

Protect the Elwha River Watershed!

Zoom in on the interactive Google Map to see where the DNR plans to log in the Elwha River Watershed.

Please help us save the Elwha River Watershed from more extractive logging!

The proposed DNR timber sale named “Alley Cat” will log approximately 100 acres near the Elwha River and Little River. Unit 1 has an origin date of 1886!

Alley Cat is planned to be approved by the Board of Natural Resources as soon as Nov 5th, 2024. The Board of Natural Resources and DNR can cancel this sale and save this forest. Please tell the Board of Natural Resources and DNR to cancel this sale NOW. Click here to send a pre-written email.

Alley Cat

Yet another mature forest timber sale in the Elwha River Watershed

View of a lush temperate rainforest with sword ferns and moss covered trees.

The Alley Cat timber sale would log more mature, legacy forest in the Elwha River watershed and is currently scheduled for auction in May 2024. It is very close to the Aldwell logged area and the Parched timber sale.

Alley Cat is east of the Elwha River and Highway 101, with portions in the Dry Hill mountain bike area and the rest along the Little River, a tributary of the Elwha River.

A field of sword ferns and a large western red cedar tree with orange flag denoting the path of a future logging road
Huge western red cedar tree in Alley Cat timber sale with a man standing inside the hollowed out trunk
Temperate rainforest with large, moss covered big leaf maple trees
Mushrooms popping up through the moss-covered soil

The Alley Cat timber sale includes large, mature Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock, Grand Fir and Big Leaf Maple, with some tree trunks up to six feet across!

Alley Cat is a naturally regenerated forest with seasonal creeks, a complex understory, large snags, large wood on the forest floor and a mixed age canopy.

SEPA Comments:

Lush temperate rainforest with orange marks denoting where they plan to create a logging road

Elwha River Watershed

With the removal of the 2 dams on the Elwha River, there’s over a $320 million dollar effort to restore the Elwha watershed. This includes work to restore salmon access up the Elwha and its tributaries. The Power Plant and TCB23 forests are part of the watershed that feeds directly into the Elwha River.

Legacy forests play a crucial role in protecting water quality. Trees in these forests act as natural filters, removing pollutants and contaminants from the water before it reaches streams, rivers, and lakes. They also help to prevent soil erosion and sedimentation, which can clog water sources and decrease their quality. Additionally, the root systems of trees in legacy forests help to regulate water flow and reduce the risk of flooding. Cutting down these forests would impact the quality of water sources in the area.

The Elwha River is the sole water supply for the City of Port Angeles and also a key source of salmon for the critically endangered southern resident orcas.

Graphic showing some of the upcoming legacy forest timber sales in the Elwha Watershed, as seen from Aldwell Unit 3.

Overhead view of the Elwha River lower dam site

Climate Change

Conserving mature and old-growth forests is one of the most affordable and effective tools for fighting climate change. No human-made technology can match big trees for removing and storing climate pollution. If they are logged, most of that pollution is quickly released into the atmosphere and it takes many decades or centuries for younger trees to recapture it.
We have lost most of our mature and old-growth forests across the country due to past logging. This is a serious problem because healthy mature and old-growth forests provide drinking water to communities, protect fish and wildlife, and absorb and store vast amounts of climate pollution. To protect what we have left and recover what has been lost, it is critical that we protect both mature and old-growth forests from being cut down in the future.
See the declaration from Dr. Dominick DellaSala (Chief Scientist at Wild Heritage) regarding climate aspects associated with logging on lands managed by the WA State DNR.
Beautiful curves in the Elwha River, across from the TCB23 timber sale