.jpeg)
Bad for climate.
Bad for biodiversity.
Just over a century ago, Washington’s lowlands were home to some of the most spectacular old-growth forests on Earth. Our state once hosted the tallest trees in the world—massive Douglas-firs that soared over 400 feet high. These forests stored hundreds of tons of carbon per acre, regulated entire watersheds, and served as living temples of biodiversity.
But the last hundred years have not been kind to Washington’s lowland forests. In just a few decades, old-growth forests vanished from the Puget Sound lowlands, the Chehalis Basin, the Willapa watershed, and the coastal areas of the San Juan Straits.
Today, Washington’s lowland forests are managed predominantly by a handful of large industrial timber companies. Across vast swaths of the landscape, private landowners oversee forests that are clearcut on short rotations, producing a patchwork of young, homogenous plantations. In these areas, ecological function takes a back seat to economic yield. Public ownership is largely absent from this industrialized land base, making the remaining public lands—particularly those managed by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR)—all the more critical.
Scattered across this altered landscape are a handful of native legacy forests on DNR-managed lands. These rare stands, never clearcut and still harboring century old trees, provide irreplaceable refuge for wildlife, safeguard drinking water, and serve as carbon sinks far more effective than any tree farm. They retain the structural complexity, genetic diversity, and resilience that plantation forests lack.
Yet DNR lands are still overwhelmingly managed for industrial-style timber production, despite being held in public trust. This management model, focused narrowly on revenue generation, fails to reflect the broader public interest in clean water, biodiversity, climate stability, and access to wild places. When nearly every surrounding acre is being managed exclusively for timber, public lands must do more. They must serve as ecological anchors, biodiversity reservoirs, and models of restoration and resilience.
The importance of these lands cannot be overstated. In a region where native lowland forests have been nearly erased, what remains on public land is a lifeline, for ecosystems, for species, and for future generations. Managing these lands solely for timber is not just short-sighted—it’s a squandered opportunity to restore and steward something far more enduring.
Who owns Washington's forests?
Most of Western Washington's forestlands are owned by a collection of companies owned by millionaire and billionaire families, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) or Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs.) These landowners control most of our lowland forests managing for one central purpose: profit.
View maps of land ownership in your county:
King
Snohomish
Skagit
Whatcom
Industrial Management In Practice:
Willipa Hills
Willipa Hills
Logging by Anderson & Middleton
Willipa Hills
The photos on this page were taken by Andy Zahn and Joshua Wright with generous help of LightHawk