Sadie Creek Archives - Elwha Legacy Forests

Upthegrove Stalls on Win-Win Opportunity to Save Sadie Creek Recreation Area’s Legacy Forests

Scott McGee — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:42:51 +0000

Here’s a press release for Elwha Legacy Forests, written by Eleana Pawl:

“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/

The post Upthegrove Stalls on Win-Win Opportunity to Save Sadie Creek Recreation Area’s Legacy Forests appeared first on Elwha Legacy Forests.

Equinox- International Day of Forests – World Water Day 2025 Event Photos

Scott McGee — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 00:50:34 +0000

From March 20-22 2025, for the Spring Equinox, International Day of Forests and World Water Day, the Elwha Legacy Forests coalition helped organize and host a series of events to celebrate and connect the dots between the health of our forests, the health of our waters and the health of our ecosystem. We hosted two Indigenous Cinema Climate Showcase film events, a Water Blessing Ceremony, and two community hikes in existing or former WA DNR timber sales.

We were joined and supported by the First Nations Club at Peninsula College, Earth Law Center, S’Klallam and Lummi Tribal Citizens, the Orcas and Tree from Toki TV and many others.

Photos from the 2025 Equinox and International Day of Forests Indigenous Cinema Climate Showcase at Peninsula College Theater and Field Arts & Events Hall, Port Angeles WA

Photos by Lauren Beard

[See image gallery at elwhalegacyforests.org]

Photos from the 2025 World Water Day Water Blessing Ceremony with S’Klallam and Lummi tribal citizens at Hollywood Beach, and march to Pebble Beach, Port Angeles, WA

Photos by Scott McGee / Forest2Sea.com

[See image gallery at elwhalegacyforests.org]

Photo from the 2025 Community Hike in the former Power Plant timber sale to the former Lower Elwha Dam Site, Port Angeles, WA

Photo by Nina Sarmiento / Magic Forest Tours

Photos from the 2025 Community Hike through the Doc Holliday timber sale at Sadie Creek Recreation Area

Photos by Scott & Carolita McGee / Forest2Sea.com

[See image gallery at elwhalegacyforests.org]

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Doc Holliday / Sadie Creek Tribal Elder Visit

Scott McGee — Fri, 29 Nov 2024 19:55:17 +0000

On Friday, November 29th, 2024, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Elder Yayacen (Linda Weichman) and Lummi Elder Sul ka dub (Freddie Lane) joined the Elwha Legacy Forests coalition at the planned clear-cut site of the ‘Doc Holliday‘ forest, located near Sadie Creek, and around the Sadie Creek Campground and multi-use trails. See the forest page linked above for a map of the timber sale locations.

Yayacen shared her deep knowledge of plant medicine and food that can be foraged in these older, legacy forests. The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe has treaty rights to forage in these diverse forests, rights which are violated when they are clear-cut and converted to monocrop tree farms in order to profit the timber industry.

The ‘Doc Holliday’ forest was auctioned off to a timber company in August 2024 and, unless the sale is cancelled, will result in the clear-cut logging of 74.5 acres of mature legacy forest, turning it into a plantation tree farm. It will also create 5,005 feet of new forest roads, which will be a permanent loss of carbon sequestration potential.

Walking through ‘Doc Holliday’ Unit 5 is like walking through Olympic National Park. It’s a complex, biodiverse and naturally regenerated legacy forest, containing large diameter trees, standing snags and large dead wood on the forest floor. It’s a critical resource for our climate crisis and loss of biodiversity!

Photos by John Gussman with Doubleclick Productions:

Video of the event by John Gussman with Doubleclick Productions on Vimeo:

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