An activist is continuing their vigil about 80 feet up a grand fir in an effort to stop logging of an older forest on state lands in the Elwha watershed.
The tree sitter, 25, a Port Angeles resident who declined to be identified, first ascended the fir in the early morning hours of May 8 a few miles outside of Port Angeles to protest planned logging of the state’s Parched timber sale.
A police presence initially stationed at the tree by Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove last week has been pulled back. Upthegrove had ordered a round-the-clock watch with lights and generators. He said the response was needed for the safety of the activist, who has rigged their platform to a blockade in the forest road.
Disturb the blockade, and the platform on which the sitter is stationed falls.
Henry Richards of Port Angeles is a friend of the tree sitter. He said he was relieved when police mostly left the area Saturday morning. A remaining point of contention, Richards said, is the closure by the Department of Natural Resources of the entire Dry Hills Recreation Area, where a major mountain bike race, the Port Angeles leg of the NW Cup race series, is scheduled on popular trails in the recreation area over the coming weekend.
Joe Smillie, a DNR spokesperson, said the bike race will go on as planned. “We felt it was far enough away that it would not pose a safety concern.”
As for the tree sitter, he said, “We hope they’ll come down soon. Their safety being on a platform high in a tree, remains our top concern.” However, he added, “We have no plans to cancel the sale.”
The agency is maintaining a reduced security presence in the area. There are no officers at the tree but the gate to the site will continue to be staffed around the clock, Smillie said.
As for whether the tree sitter is violating any law, he said, “We will provide what we know to the Clallam County prosecutor, who will decide what charges to apply.”
With the generator and lights gone, and just a few officers at the gate to the road leading to the blockade, the sit is much more pleasant, the tree sitter said by phone Monday. “It has been pretty lovely … you can finally hear birds,” they said.
Visits from friends and two rallies since the sit started have been encouraging, the tree sitter said. Particularly thoughtful was the supporter who brought fresh arugula from the farmers market. “Fresh food up here was so welcome!” they said.
The wind and cold and rain have not been a problem; “I got my tarp set up, so that is pretty good,” they said. Hardest has been falling asleep at night. “It gets pretty chilly, and the weird part about letting your guard down and going to sleep is someone could come and cut through the line; that is the hardest part about letting your guard down and going to sleep with that.”
They wish for books of poetry and power banks — especially a big one, like the Jackery power station they said was confiscated by police. “And more arugula!”
They call their father every day and would call Mom too, but “she has not figured out how to download Signal,” a communication app. They said their spirits are good.
“I’m a little homesick, but it feels like a really valuable thing to be doing. … I really love the Elwha River. I love this area. I really love salmon.” The tree sitter grew up in the area fishing for salmon with their father. “He is obsessed with salmon, he would always complain to me they are logging too close to the stream, and that logging raises water temperatures,” they said.
The tree sit is an escalation of an ongoing dispute in Washington over the cutting of older forests on state lands. Old growth on state lands is already protected. This fight is over the trees that would become the old growth of tomorrow. Industry coverts big trees for products and jobs, and local taxing districts support the revenue that DNR logging sends to local communities.
Salmon are creatures of the forest. Big trees cool the waters of their natal streams. The roots of big trees hold stream banks, preventing erosion that can smother salmon eggs. Cutting big trees also changes the hydrology of an area for decades: Big trees use less water. Fast-growing, young plantations reduce stream flows by as much as 50% in summer, when fish are most stressed and flows are already low.
Logging in the Elwha watershed has been particularly controversial. The river is the subject of a more than $325 million federal restoration project to bring back the Elwha’s legendary salmon runs. And the river is the community’s only source of drinking water. City officials joined with local activists in opposing timber sales in the watershed in 2022.
The tree sitter and Olympic Forest Defense, a group of supporters, are demanding that Upthegrove cancel the Parched timber sale, reopen the recreation area for public use and end clear-cut logging of older forests.
Upthegrove campaigned on stopping the logging of older forests on state lands. His first act as commissioner was to put a pause on further sales of older forests while a new policy for older state forests is developed.
But Upthegrove has declined to overturn a rush of sales approved by former Commissioner Hilary Franz on her way out the door.
Parched is one of those sales. A Clallam County Superior Court judge has put a temporary restraining order on the logging of the parcel pending consideration of two lawsuits opposing the sale.
But that restraining order could be modified or lifted at any time, the tree sitter noted. So they remain right where they are. Up in the tree.
