Raise logging permit fees to fund better enforcement

A few years ago, areas of Whatcom County were severely damaged by landslides and flooding. We personally faced severe damage to property and loss of access to our property. Many of our neighbors faced similar problems. This property damage was caused, in large part, by a timber company whose logging and road-building on steep, unstable slopes was not adequately overseen by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). We had to go to court and spend thousands of dollars of our own money to prevent further harm and to repair the damage.

Yet we now hear that DNR's enforcement budget to oversee logging permits might be further reduced by 20 percent while timber companies continue to pay a paltry $50 for logging permits that can yield $300,000 or more in profit per timber harvest. Even worse, the reduced oversight of logging comes at a time when studies show widespread noncompliance with today's laws.

When the Department of Natural Resources receives one of the thousands of logging permits filed in an average year, it has a lot of work to do in a short time-period. DNR has to investigate: Is the landowner leaving the required trees on dangerous landslide-prone hillsides? Are enough trees being left along rivers and streams to protect salmon habitat? Are forest roads designed correctly or built in the best possible location? Is surface water drainage going to be changed in ways that will affect neighboring property owners? To try to get the analysis right, sometimes the forester needs to bring in a specialist, such as a geologist, a fish and wildlife biologist, or a hydrologist. The review process can mean the difference between providing an ounce of prevention or requiring a pound of cure.

Permit fees bring in approximately $300,000 per year yet DNR spends about $22.5 million annually enforcing and administering logging permits and the rules that govern logging. That means taxpayers are footing the bill for big timber companies.

Fifty-dollar logging permits make effective permit application review and enforcement almost impossible. Because of a lack of resources, DNR foresters are only capable of visiting about 4 out of 10 ordinary permit sites, but recent state studies have found that landowner errors are rampant. For example, there were more than 1,100 landslides that delivered massive amounts of dirt and logging debris into rivers during the major storm of December 2007 that flooded I-5 near Chehalis. More than half of these landslides started in steep forested areas which were clearcut contrary to the logging rules.

As downstream and downhill landowners, we expected state agencies to enforce the logging laws and to protect our private property from the upstream impacts of poor logging practices. Private property will continue to be threatened unless DNR has the resources to review permit applications and enforce the regulations that protect public resources and public safety.

The timber industry should be required to pay its fair share to ensure that our agencies have the resources they need to enforce our environmental laws and regulations. Landowners like us should not pay the price for lack of enforcement. Raise the permit fees now and dedicate them to better prevention of natural resource damage, and better enforcement of existing regulations.