OSPI Superintendent Reykdahl Wants To Reimagine Board Of Natural Resources
Photo by Olena Sergienko, Unsplash
Washington State’s superintendent Chris Reykdahl wants people to stop using the argument that schools need revenue from timber to justify the sales.
“Step one for me, is to extract schools out of this question, stop letting people use school construction as the excuse to harvest,” Reykdahl told NWPB.
He wants to take the fractional share of funding schools receive from timber sales out of the discussion of how much timber should be harvested.
Beneficiaries of timber sales constitute much of the Board of Natural Resources, who approve timber sales, and Reykdahl says this is wrong for where we’re at today, including his own seat. He would like to see a reimagining of who sits on the board.
“At some point, it should be about managing our forests for the best outcomes, it should not just be about the beneficiaries making decisions on how to keep the flow of revenue coming to their institutions when it’s becoming a smaller and smaller share of their institutions,” Reykdahl says.
Reykdahl says the legislature should take action to ask the board, or a third party, about its governance. He doesn’t feel the board is poised to make these decisions on its own.
Related Stories:
Many states fail to adequately budget for wildfire costs, study says
A silhouette of a forest fire. Credit: Egor Vikhrev, Unsplash LISTEN (Runtime: 1:02) READ Many states are failing to adequately budget for wildfire costs before, during and after fires, according… Continue Reading Many states fail to adequately budget for wildfire costs, study says
State land managers update timber sales to include climate, carbon emissions after court ruling
Part of the Box of Rain timber sale that the Washington State Department of Natural Resources approved to go to auction in December. Photo courtesy of the Center for Responsible… Continue Reading State land managers update timber sales to include climate, carbon emissions after court ruling
Judge rules DNR violated environmental policy; department amends 5 timber sales
The Washington Department of Natural Resources violated state environmental laws when it failed to account for climate change, according to a Jefferson County Superior Court ruling.
Last week, a superior court ruled the Washington Department of Natural Resources violated the state’s environmental protection act procedures in its preparation for two timber sales.
Continue Reading Judge rules DNR violated environmental policy; department amends 5 timber sales
