A group of 14 curious local residents joined us for a short community hike into Unit 3 of the Doc Holliday timber sale, led by Jim with the Center for Responsible Forestry. We met up at the Sadie Creek campground off Highway 112 and then carpooled down a DNR forest road to Unit 3.
While walking through Unit 3 of the timber sale, we observed rich fungi, evidence of wildlife and stumps from old growth trees logged a hundred years ago. The group asked lots of good questions about how to get involved and what we can do to protect these forests, which are critical in our fight against the climate and biodiversity crisis.
Doc Holliday has the most amazing mature and giant sitka spruce trees, with a complex and lush ecosystem. It’s a diverse forest, with spruce, cedar, alder, douglas fir, and big leaf maple trees. It has a rich understory, breaks in the canopy and large snags. All characteristics of a mature second growth forest, ready to become old growth, if we just leave it alone!
The Doc Holliday timber sale consists of 74.5 acres of mature legacy forest and was approved for sale by the WA Board of Natural Resources (BNR). It is planned to go to auction on August 28th. They will sell this beautiful forest to the highest bidder, who will then be contractually obligated to clear-cut it, so that it can be turned into a tree farm.
Take Action!
Units 1, 2 and 3 are next to the Sadie Creek Campground, which is home to an OHV trail system for bikes, motorbikes, ATVs and small 4x4s. Some of the trails go through the Doc Holliday timber sale.
Units 4 and 6 require a bit of hiking to get to, while Unit 5 is the largest and most spectacular forest, and is accessible from Highway 112. It is a complex forest with no trails, see the main page for Doc Holliday for photos of Unit 5 and a map of the various units.
If you’d like to join us on future community hikes in Clallam County and get involved, make sure to sign up for our mailing list at the bottom of the page!
