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: