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High above the Middle Fork Nooksack River lies a grove of one of the last remaining mature forests on the Van Zandt Dike. This rare forest contains 150 year old Douglas firs and western red cedars, some over 5 feet in diameter. In fact, some stands still contain remnant old growth trees over 300 years old! The lush forest floor is a hub for biodiversity: an understory of native plants including huckleberry, trillium, pine sap, and devil’s club. Parts of this forest border known nesting sites of marbled murrelets, an endangered species, and is home to numerous other species of wildlife like black bear and pileated woodpecker. This is the Little Lilly Forest, and it’s on the chopping block.
On August 1st, the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) released the results of the Little Lilly’s State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review process, determining there was no “significant” environmental impact in carrying out the clear cut of this sale. This means DNR is moving forward with its plan to auction off this forest on October 30th, just two months away. Without community action, this legacy forest of large hundred-year-old trees will be clearcut and converted into a tree plantation, which would be a major loss for the Middle Fork watershed and our community.
Forests like this are worth more standing than logged. Preserving mature forests provides us with many essential ecosystem services for free, like watershed regulation, steep slope stabilization, carbon storage, and wildlife habitat. There are a number of programs and funding sources that could be used to put this rare forest into conservation and provide funding to essential services like our schools, fire districts, and libraries. Contact DNR and ask that they cancel the sale—or at the very least pause the sale while state and county-level work groups study the full slate of management options available for forests like Little Lilly.