The Willapa & Chehalis watersheds need your help.
AT RISK:
A silent crisis is unfolding in Southwestern Washington, as the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) logs the region's last remaining native forests. If current plans continue, legacy forests will be extinct from the headwaters of these river systems in just five years.
TWIN HARBORS
HIGHEST PRIORITY
TIMBER SALES
Sincerely Listening
Auction Date: Dec 2025
This timber sale would destroy 87 acres of the Mill Creek legacy forest of the Willipa watershed. The sale is scheduled to proceed despite Commissioner Upthegrove's promises to protect legacy forests.
Sunnyvale
Auction Date: Dec 2026
This timber sale would destroy 170 acres of the Mill Creek legacy forest of the Willipa watershed. The sale is scheduled to proceed despite Commissioner Upthegrove's promises to protect legacy forests.
Wheaton
Auction Date: Jan 2028
This timber sale would destroy 190 acres of the Mill Creek legacy forest of the Willipa watershed. Unit 1 of this timber sale, located directly above Mill Creek is one of the best remaining legacy forests in the entire watershed. The sale is scheduled to proceed despite Commissioner Upthegrove's promises to protect legacy forests.
Spruce Wayne
Sale Canceled!
This timber sale would destroy 150 acres in the heart of the Raimie Creek legacy forest at the headwaters of the North River. This would fragment one of the largest remaining legacy forests in southwestern Washington, and is scheduled to proceed despite Commissioner Upthegrove's promises to protect legacy forests.
Seven and Seven
Sale Canceled!
This timber sale would clear cut 155 acres, including one of the best remaining legacy forests in the Willapa Watershed. It is currently unprotected and scheduled to proceed under Commissioner Upthegrove.
PARTER ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS CAMPAIGN
CONNECT WITH US!
Want to be more involved? Email joshua@wlfdc.org to join the Twin Harbors work group.
About this campaign:
Cursed with the ability to grow some of the largest trees on the West Coast, southwestern Washington has borne the brunt of industrial logging for more than a century. The Chehalis and Willapa Bay watersheds lie almost entirely in the lowlands, where vast stretches of land are controlled by just a handful of massive timber corporations. The Department of Natural Resources is the only significant public landowner in these basins, yet for decades the agency has systematically eliminated native forests from the landscape. Today, nearly every remaining legacy forest in the Chehalis and Willapa basins is scheduled for logging within the next decade. These stands represent some of the most at-risk forests in our entire state, which is why the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition has made this region a central priority in our work.
This is an aerial view of the headwaters of the North River watershed. This forest would have been fragmented by the Spruce Wayne timber sale, however we were successful in getting the project canceled.
This is one of the last and most diverse remaining legacy forests in the Willipa watershed. This forest would have been clear cut by the Seven and Seven timber sale, however we were successful in getting the project canceled.
This is one of the only intact areas in Doty State Forest. It is being targeted by the "Bobs Gettysburgers" sale, scheduled for 2027.
This is an aerial view of the headwaters of the North River watershed. This forest would have been fragmented by the Spruce Wayne timber sale, however we were successful in getting the project canceled.
The Legacy Forest Defense Coalition is committed to ground-truthing every legacy forest timber sale in this region to raise public awareness and inspire action to protect these irreplaceable ecosystems. Our work to date has included:
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Partnering with the Chehalis Tribe to oppose legacy forest timber sales
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Informing and engaging elected officials on the threats facing these watersheds
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Organizing community hikes to connect people directly with these forests
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Documenting destructive logging practices, including the removal of old growth
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Collaborating with media to bring broader attention to the crisis
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Developing a proposed management plan for the Lower Chehalis State Forests
We are already seeing results! So far our work has resulted in:
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The cancellation of the Spruce Wayne timber sale, which would have fragmented the largest remaining mature forest in the entire 200,000 acre North River watershed. We are continuing to advocate for the protection of this entire forest, but so far have prevented 150 acres from being auctioned.
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The cancellation of the Seven and Seven timber sale, which would clear cut one of the last large blocks of legacy forest remaining in the headwaters of the Willapa Watershed. This truly unique forest contains massive maple trees over 8 feet in diameter, massive spruce trees, and towering douglas-fir.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
1. Please send a email to the Commissioner of Public Lands asking for a moratorium on all timber sales of structurally complex forests in the South Coast Planning Unit.
Dave Upthegrove
Commissioner of Public Lands
Contact Commissioner Upthegrove at cpl@dnr.wa.gov
Willapa River Overview Map
Click on the circled areas on the map to see pictures of each at risk area.
