DNR Proposes 2,364-acre Elwha Hills Natural Area, But Leaves Out Critical Forest
Take Action By Nov 13 to save the legacy forests of Joyce Ridge.
Northwest Lichenologists surveying within DNR's proposed Joyce Ridge Natural Area.
Yesterday, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) released its Draft Elwha Watershed Report, which was mandated by the legislature during the 2025 legislative session. The legislature directed DNR to survey the watershed and recommend boundaries for a potential natural area that would protect the watershed’s most important ecological features. Last night, DNR presented its draft report to the public.
In total, DNR is proposing a 2,364-acre natural area consisting of four separate units in and around the watershed. The proposal recommends designating 799 acres in the Dan Kelly unit as a Natural Resources Conservation Area (NRCA), while the remaining 1,565 acres within the Eden Valley, Joyce Ridge, and Whiskey Creek units could be designated as Natural Area Preserves (NAPs), the highest level of conservation designation in the state. Were this Natural Area to be established, DNR would then need to seek funding to buy out the trust beneficiaries and purchase replacement lands.
Of the land proposed for inclusion in the Natural Area,
1,160 acres are already protected under DNR's HCP, or by the legislature.
647 acres are plantations stands, grasslands and bald habitats.
373 acres are currently unprotected legacy forests.
184 acres are private lands that DNR would purchase.
Although approximately half of the land included in DNR's proposed designations is already protected, the proposal would still represent a significant win for legacy forests. It would permanently protect 373 acres of legacy forest stands, and conserve habitat for numerous at risk species including one of America's most endangered butterflies.
DNR's Proposed Boundaries of the Elwha Hills Natural Area. Note the original ecological boundary marked around Whiskey Creek and Joyce Ridge.
Dan Kelly Ridge
The proposed Dan Kelly Ridge NRCA would permanently protect 30 acres of currently unprotected, structurally complex forest that was originally scheduled for logging as part of the TCB 23 timber sale. It would also protect an additional 401 acres of currently unprotected, non-structurally complex habitat, and important "balds" or rocky outcrops used by the endangered Taylor's Checkerspot Butterfly.
Joyce Ridge
The proposed Joyce Ridge unit would protect 343 acres of currently unprotected legacy forests, along with an additional 167 acres of plantations and connecting habitat. This proposed NAP includes several rare ecosystems and a population of the Taylor's Checkerspot Butterfly.
Eden Valley
The Eden Valley unit includes 79 acres of currently unprotected state trust lands, as well as 35 acres of private land. While none of the stands included in this unit qualify as legacy forest, the area contains valuable grasslands used by the Taylor's Checkerspot Butterfly.
Whiskey Creek
The Whiskey Creek unit includes 417 acres of structurally complex forests. All of these acres are already protected until 2067 under the HCP. Transitioning them to natural area status would permanently protect them, and allow DNR to buy replacement lands elsewhere to generate revenue for trust beneficiaries.
A Critical Gap: The By A Whisker Timber Sale
While DNR’s proposal represents an important step toward protecting the Elwha watershed’s remaining legacy forests, it contains a critical gap.
In Figure 20 of its report, Washington Natural Heritage Program (WNHP) staff identified the appropriate ecological boundaries for the Elwha Hills Natural Area. Notably, the WNHP recommended one large, connected Natural Area Preserve encompassing both Whiskey Creek and Joyce Ridge, along with hundreds of acres of connecting habitat. Despite being recommended for conservation, these forests were removed from DNR’s final proposed boundary.
The agency did this to allow the 240 acre By A Whisker timber sale to proceed. The forests targeted by the By A Whisker sale are among the highest-value structurally complex forests on DNR-managed lands in the watershed. They also contain the Douglas-fir - Western Hemlock / Salal - Oceanspray plant community, a globally imperiled ecological community identified as a conservation priority in state natural areas by DNR.
To qualify as an Element Occurrence (EO) and be considered for inclusion in a natural area, the DNR must document at least 250 acres of this plant community in a specific area. Unfortunately, this plant community extends beyond the Elwha watershed boundary. Due to budget limitations, DNR only surveyed the portion within the watershed, which did not meet the 250-acre threshold. This does not mean the larger area failed to qualify as an EO. It simply means DNR documented only part of the plant community and did not survey the surrounding forests.
A lack of funding for additional surveys should not be a reason to overlook the ecological importance of these forests. Yet that is exactly what has happened. The limited survey area has effectively left the ecological value of these stands out of DNR’s report, while the agency continues to move forward with a timber sale that would destroy them.
The DNR appears to have prioritized the financial value of the timber sale over the conservation recommendations of its own Natural Heritage Program. If the sale proceeds, DNR stands to generate approximately $1 million in revenue, raising serious questions about the agency’s competing interests in determining the boundaries of the proposed natural area.
It is particularly troubling that DNR appears to have allowed timber revenue considerations to outweigh the ecological boundaries recommended by its own Natural Heritage Program. The result is a proposed natural area that leaves some of the watershed’s most valuable forests vulnerable to logging. The By A Whisker forests belong in the Elwha Hills Natural Area, and DNR should revise its proposal to follow the original ecological boundary recommended by its own staff.
Take Action By Nov 13 at 11:59 PM
Tell DNR: Include By A Whisker!
DNR is accepting public input on its Draft Elwha Watershed Report, and this is an important opportunity to make your voice heard. The proposed Elwha Hills Natural Area could provide substantive protection for hundreds of acres of valuable legacy forests, but only if its boundaries reflect the watershed's actual ecological values.
Don't let the "By A Whisker" timber sale supplant and undermine the integrity of the proposed Elwha Hills Natural Area. Submit a comment to DNR expressing overall support for the proposal, while asking the agency to adopt its own ecological boundary for the Joyce Ridge unit and cancel the "By A Whisker" timber sale.
(see Figure 20 of the draft report).
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