Timber harvest benefitting UW sparks concern among residents of Naselle

One self-service library, high school, and grocery store serve the 519 people of Naselle, Washington. The piles of felled logs along the roadsides dwarf the passing cars, signaling to drivers that this town was built on logging.

Many Naselle residents have family roots in the forestry sector, allowing them to be intimately familiar with its demands. They also do not often push back on timber harvests that pose no threat to endangered species or their habitats.

But an upcoming harvest will fell trees surrounding one of two creeks that supply the town’s water: this is where most residents draw the line.

“Nobody's against logging,” Naselle resident Rex Ziak said. “We all use paper. We all live in wood houses. Many of us heat with wood. It's just that there are appropriate places to log and there are inappropriate places to log. And this is a highly inappropriate place to log.”

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will auction off 105 acres of state-owned forest in Naselle on May 29 after they determined the area was suitable for harvest. The revenue from the highest bid will go to UW (University of Washington).

The DNR has provided Washington public schools with revenue since 1889 through the state trust lands program, which auctions off select DNR-owned land for timber companies to harvest. The revenue from the highest bid then goes to public K-12 schools, universities, and colleges.

UW received approximately $20 million from the DNR from 2020 to 2024, $8.6 million of which was from timber sales. The university uses this revenue to pay off debt, and leftover money is used for renovations and new buildings across the three campuses.

The DNR first contacted the Naselle Water Company about the sale in December 2022. Naselle residents then voiced concerns about the sale, causing the DNR to resurvey the area and reduce the proposed harvest from 174 acres of forest to 105. The DNR later held a public meeting in December 2024, where 78 community members attended to hear officials and scientists present their findings from the environmental surveys.

The DNR and Naselle Water Company assured residents that the timber harvest would not affect the water quality of their watershed. The water company said that there is no risk of contamination from the logging. Additionally, they explained that Lane Creek — Naselle’s primary water source — would experience mild sedimentation accumulation and O’Connor Creek would experience low accumulation.

“DNR is very conservative in its approach to timber sale layouts, including preserving existing watersheds, riparian areas, and critical habitats,” DNR communications manager Ryan Rodruck wrote in an email. “We’ve been in close consultation with the Naselle Water District during every phase of the sale's layout. The agency is confident there will be no impacts on the watershed.”

Six community members in jeans and work boots sat around a table inside the locked, unlit Naselle Timberland Library to express their thoughts on the issue with The Daily. The group — composed of naturalists, a former miner, and folks from logging families — shared their love for their town, frequently praising Naselle’s water quality and taste.

“When [my wife and I] first came here and saw the house and the property, we both admittedly just felt something inside,” Naselle resident Greg Ament said. “And I can say that this is a community that we intend to be part of for the rest of our lives.”

The group also shared frustrations, mainly that they feel the DNR is not hearing nor respecting their voices and opinions.

Douglas firs, Western hemlocks, and Sitka spruces tower over the sword ferns and Pacific trillium that patiently sit on the forest floor, waiting for sunlight to peek through the canopy of the DNR-owned Naselle forest. Stumps of old-growth trees are decorated with new life, a synecdoche of resiliency and uninterrupted life cycles.

The forest also nurses the beginning of Lane Creek, which starts as a trickling puddle surrounded by amphibians and flora and develops into a strong current down the slope.

Plastic orange ribbons wrapped around select trees, accompanied by white printer-paper signs stapled to the bark, were the only signs of human presence in the woods.

The DNR left these two markers to specify which trees the highest-bidding timber company could harvest. The agency is legally required to follow the State Trust Lands Habitat Conservation Plan, which protects at-risk species and their habitats; uncommon habitats and habitat features, such as mineral springs and caves; old growth forests; and unstable slopes.

Buffer zones are also legally required when logging near a watershed, meaning trees within a set distance from the water cannot be harvested. However, some residents and watershed rights advocates believe these buffers are ineffective.

Anna Kaufman, Astoria chapter coordinator for North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection, described the impact a private logging company had on a small coastal town in Oregon when they harvested timber on private property on the town’s watershed.

Since 2000, the Jetty Creek watershed has been 90% clearcut and aerially sprayed multiple times with herbicide. Although this was done by private companies, the city — and consequently taxpayers — paid $2.4 million in 2009 to upgrade the community’s water treatment plant.

Naselle residents are worried they’ll meet a similar fate.

Some community members acknowledge that the DNR employees are just doing their job, and acting in good, “albeit misled,” faith. Others propose alternatives such as using the Trust Land Transfer program, where the land would remain public property and become protected from logging.

Dan Brown, director of the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and member of the DNR Board of Natural Resources, commented on the harvest as a spokesperson for the university, adding that he was unaware of the sale details.

“While timber harvests are known to have effects on watershed hydrology, DNR’s environmental goals exceed those of the state Forest Practices Rules, including providing riparian buffers around streams and rivers, and are fully compliant with standards and practices set out in the State Environmental Policy Act,” Brown wrote in an email.

Most Naselle residents continue providing a voice for their unincorporated town as the auction date approaches.

“Of all the places you're going to make a cut … this seems like the most unsuitable location for everyone here who relies on this water supply,” Pierce said. “And so I think what we're looking at is a conflict between the University of Washington's interest in funding public education, or their own educational priorities, with the sustainability and conservation of this very, very pristine resource here for the community of Naselle.”

McKenna Sweet is a contributor in science related areas for The Daily, a publication sponsored by the University of Washington (UW).