“Doc Holliday” timber sale is the name the DNR gave to a parcel of quiet, fern-filled, moss-strewn, biodiverse, legacy forest which is located next to Sadie Creek Campground, off of scenic highway 112 on the Olympic Peninsula. It is a joy for hikers to explore and where from time immemorial, Tribal members have gone to gather traditional foods and medicines. There is also a salmon nesting area. This is about to change, unless Commissioner Upthegrove and DNR come to their senses.

Almost everyone seems to agree that it doesn’t make sense to log legacy forests around the beloved Sadie Creek campground and right about the creek itself. Last year, former Republican gubernatorial candidate, Bill Bryant who visited the forest, wrote an op-ed called “This Puget Sound Forest Should be Saved, there are better ways to log.” Hundreds signed a tribal citizen led letter asking Upthegrove to halt the timber sale. 

What makes the situation even more unique is that the logging company is willing to accept an offer that would allow it to forgo logging while paying the same amount of money to DNR that DNR would have gotten had the forest been logged. This means that there’s no loss of money to beneficiaries like schools, libraries, and fire districts. Clallam County Commissioner Randy Johnson, a former timber company executive who also sits on the WA Board of Natural Resources – the body that makes decisions about timber sales – also supports the idea of finding a solution to save these few important acres.

The price tag to keep Sadie Creek campground an enjoyable place to visit is just $32,000.

Commissioner Upthegrove ran on the promise to protect legacy forests. So far, he’s continued business as usual while we lose hundreds of acres of legacy forests each month. Advancing this collaborative partnership is one way to turn the ship around.

For background information and a video tour of “Doc Holliday” legacy forest by John Gussman, go to:

For a shorter (1 minute) video tour of “Doc Holliday” go to Instagram on mobile: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGDubjtpQPt/

On Day 2, 14 of us joined Joshua to take the field portion of the survey training in the proposed ‘Baker’s Dozen’ legacy timber sale in Port Angeles, WA. With Joshua’s help, we discovered an example of a rare plant community made up of Western Red Cedar / Grand Fir / Sword Fern (Thuja plicata – Abies grandis / Polystichum munitum). This plant community is considered globally critically imperiled (G1 conservation status)!

Joshua taught us how to do variable area plot sampling using a basal area factor (BAF) angle gauge to determine tree distribution and how to do point line intercept transect sampling for determining the makeup of the understory. Joshua also taught the group how to measure the diameter-at-breast-height (DBH) of trees using DBH tape.

Under DNR’s own policy and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) requirements, DNR cannot log rare plant communities. But, DNR often still includes these protected areas in timber sales. It’s been up to citizen surveyors to find these special places and bring them to DNR’s attention. Joshua and other experienced surveyors have found rare plant communities and as a result have saved several legacy forests in Clallam County, including Power Station, TCB23 and the legacy portion of ‘Dungeness and Dragons’. Our goal is to increase the number of local community members that can act as citizen surveyors, in order to discover and save these rare plant communities before they are wiped out by logging!

Photos by Scott McGee / Forest2Sea.com

Photos by Scott & Carolita McGee / Forest2Sea.com