DNR Plan Would Devastate Legacy Forests in the Nooksack Valley
- Legacy Forest Defense Coalition
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Two of Washington state's most enchanting legacy forests are at risk.
Ancient cedar tree in the North Fork Startup timber sale
Some 170 acres along the southern banks of the North Fork Nooksack River—where cold glacial water flows downstream and provides critical habitat for salmon—are now slated for logging. The Secretariat timber sale encompasses a 110-plus-year-old wonderland of towering Douglas-fir and cedar trees, including multiple eagle nests. The North Fork Start Up sale targets a spectacularly diverse, maple- and cedar-dominated forest that contains multiple ancient cedar trees that survived the logging of the late 1800s.
Both proposed clearcuts are located just across the river from Maple Falls, in an area where logging has already taken a tragic toll.
In 1896, a Douglas-fir growing at Alpenglow Farm near Maple Falls was cut down. After the tree was felled, loggers ran a tape measure from the top of the tree to its base. The tree, later named the “Nooksack Giant,” measured 465 feet long, making it the tallest tree ever documented. It stood almost 100 feet taller than the tallest documented coast redwood.
The timber industry did not stop after cutting down the world's tallest tree. Loggers went on to clearcut the alluvial flats along the North Fork Nooksack River, creeping up the hillsides and destroying all of the remaining lowland old-growth forests in the watershed. These forests were once among the most spectacular Douglas-fir forests on Earth.
Today, the North Fork Startup and Secretariat timber sales would eliminate the only two large, intact stretches of native forest remaining at low elevations along the Nooksack River. These forests have been recovering for more than a century, and represent the closest thing to old growth forest remaining in the lower North Fork Nooksack River valley. They represent a second chance: a chance for humanity to do better, to allow trees like the Nooksack giant to return. Given enough time, these stands hold the potential to once again grow some of the largest Douglas-fir trees on Earth. Yet both are now scheduled for logging in late 2027.
Cross-section of the Nooksack Giant, displayed in Bellingham in the late 1890s.
These Forests Were Supposed to Be Protected
What makes this situation especially enraging is this: the DNR had committed to protecting these forests while actively planning their destruction.
In August 2025, Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove signed an executive order that he described as “the biggest step forward in forest conservation in our state in a generation.” The order identified approximately 77,000 acres for conservation.
As LFDC has previously reported, the initial conservation maps contained significant flaws, prompting the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to commit to revising them. That process is still ongoing.
Despite their flaws, the original maps did identify a few of Western Washington's lowland legacy forests for conservation: including the stands now targeted by the North Fork Startup and Secretariat Timber Sales. As recently as this spring, these stands were identified as conservation areas under this commissioners order. Yet DNR's Northwest Region Office proceeded to plan timber sales in both forests, arguing that the sales were necessary to “round out” its five-year timber sale plan.
Faced with a direct conflict with his conservation order, Commissioner Upthegrove could have instructed staff to cancel the sales. Instead, it appears that both sales are now moving forward.
DNR's proposed timber sale boundaries for Secretariat and North Fork Start Up
A Larger Pattern
Unfortunately, this does not appear to be an isolated incident. DNR's conservation maps had already grandfathered in thousands of acres of destructive logging, including projects targeting many of the remaining lowland legacy forests in Western Washington. Commissioner Upthegrove has justified the logging of these structurally complex legacy forests by arguing that they are consistent with DNR policy (they are not), and nonsensically, that it is "the most responsible course to move that forward," because he made a commitment to his staff to "be consistent, and bring those timber sales forward."
This begs the question:
What about the commitment he made to the public to end the logging of legacy forests, follow the rule of law, and faithfully implement those DNR plans and policies that require the agency to protect and restore older forests? It seems the Commissioner has been selective about which "policies" he chooses to enforce and which ones to ignore.
In recent months, DNR regional managers have been busy preparing new timber sales targeting legacy forests, that would clearcut hundreds of acres that had been identified for conservation under Upthegrove's original executive order.
Support our fight for WA's legacy forests
Rather than leading his agency toward a different future, Commissioner Upthegrove is allowing his staff to continue planning timber sales in legacy forests. He is effectively letting the most anti-conservation forces within DNR's region offices dictate the direction of the agency, then justifying their decisions to extend the very status quo that he campaigned against.
This raises a fundamental question: If the commissioner capitulates whenever his staff proposes a timber sale in an area that was once designated for conservation, how can we take seriously the commissioners order to protect 77,000 acres of structurally complex forests?
We are also faced with our own question: Will we stand by as DNR plans to wipe out the oldest and most biologically diverse legacy forests that remain in the Nooksack River valley?
The Nooksack Needs You
Write to Dave Upthegrove and tell him that he shouldn't log the forests he promised to protect. Ask him to cancel the Secretariat and North Fork Start Up Timber Sales.
If you live in Whatcom County, reach out to your county council member and ask them to request that DNR preserve both of these forests.
JOIN US IN THE FOREST!
9/12 in Whatcom County
Nooksack River
Legacy Forest Hike
On Saturday, September 12th, experience the rare biodiversity at stake in DNR's North Fork Start Up timber sale with LFDC and the Sierra Club Mount Baker Group!
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