Skip to main content

Power Station

Protect the Dungeness Watershed!

The Dungeness River Watershed has been saved from more extractive logging!

Zoom in on the interactive Google Map to see where the DNR planned to log in the Dungeness River Watershed.

Power Station is a legacy forest timber sale located in the rain shadow of the Olympics, on the south side of Sequim. Three small units drain into the Dungeness River. The fourth unit is 100 acres and accessible from Johnson Creek Road. The creeks here drain into Sequim Bay via Bell and Johnson creeks. In unit 4 the forest is dominated by mature cedar and fir trees over 100 years old, and large pacific rhododendrons, Washington’s state flower!

Power Station was planned to be auctioned (Forest Practices Application #2618265) to a timber company in April 2024, but due to the hard work by Joshua Wright with the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition, the sale will not go forward!

Joshua discovered and documented a globally rare plant community (Thuja plicata – Pseudotsuga menziesii – Abies grandis / Mahonia nervosa / Polystichum munitum Forest) in Unit 4. Joshua’s documentation and letter (12MB PDF) led to the Washington Natural Heritage Program doing a site survey (1MB PDF), where they discovered over 112 acres of rare plant communities within the sale area. This has effectively cancelled the entire sale!

Power Station

A mature forest timber sale in the Dungeness River Watershed

A group of hikers observing the mature Power Station forest

The Power Station timber sale would log more mature, legacy forest in the Dungeness River watershed and was originally planned for auction in April 2024.

Power Station was one of two forests recommended to the Clallam County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) for inclusion in the WA DNR’s Natural Climate Solutions program by Dr. Catharine Copass. It is surrounded by marbled murrelet nesting sites. The other was the Sutherland Parcel and Shore Thing timber sale.

DNR Natural Climate Solutions Program Opportunities in Clallam County by Dr. Catharine Copass

Three women stand in front of an old growth douglas fir tree in Power Station
Spotted coralroot orchid in the Power Station forest

The Power Station 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!

Power Station is a naturally regenerated forest with a complex understory, large snags, large wood on the forest floor and a mixed age canopy. It contains active trails, enjoyed by the community.

Hikers on a trail through the mature Power Station forest.
Wild rhododendron in bloom in the Power Station forest

Dungeness River Watershed

The Dungeness River watershed is in the rain shadow of the Olympic mountains. It flows out of Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest through the city of Sequim, WA and into the Strait of Juan de Fuca through the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.

The Dungeness River is a salmon-bearing river, providing habitat for a keystone species and also provides water for farms in Sequim. From the Dungeness River Watershed Action Plan by the Olympic National Forest:

The Dungeness River serves as crucial refugia for maintaining and recovering four species of fish listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act: Puget Sound Chinook, Puget Sound steelhead, Hood Canal summer chum, and Coastal Puget Sound bull trout.

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.

Aerial view of the Dungeness river, surrounded by forested hillsides and fog

Dungeness River Photo by John Gussman 

Panoramic view of the Dungeness River and the surrounding lush, temperate rainforest near Power Station

Dungeness River Photo by John Gussman 

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.
A cracked bright blue robin's egg on the forest floor in Power Station
Looking up at a large, very tall douglas fir tree in Power Station