Commissioner Upthegrove: It’s Time to Give Conservation a Financial Value, Not Just an Ecological One

Commissioner Laid Out His Updated Vision to Stabilize Funding for Conservation and Protect Washington's Most Critical Forests

Today Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove announced an updated vision for conservation and the management of forests on state lands, outlining a plan to shore up budgets for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) forestry programs. The Commissioner discussed his August 2025 Commissioner's Order to manage 77,000 acres of structurally complex forests using methods other than traditional logging techniques. He announced that he's learned that it will not be possible to get to 77,000 acres and that the Commissioner's Order has been updated to reflect his new management direction.

That new direction includes roughly 55,000 acres of structurally complex forests that will be exempt from Agency harvest plans through at least 2030. During this time DNR will work to secure the authority and develop innovative tools needed to continue managing those acres without variable retention harvests. These tools will include authority to participate in the regulatory carbon market when appropriate and a conservation lease program to grant Tribes, municipalities, or other State Agencies the ability to fund the conservation of specific forests. If DNR acquires these tools, it would be the first time in history that DNR would generate significant revenue in our forests through methods other than timber production.

"I want to get us to the point where the value of a forest is measured not only by the lumber it can provide, but also by the carbon it stores, the habitat it provides, the water it protects, and the resilience it gives the surrounding landscape," said Commissioner Upthegrove. "But an unfunded moratorium on the harvest of certain forests, without the tools to replace the revenue lost, will not get us there without first undermining funding for critical conservation programs."

The Commissioner also pledged to seek full funding from the state legislature for DNR's Trust Land Transfer Program this year. DNR will also ask the legislature to continue to provide funding from the Natural Climate Solutions Account to protect forests with high carbon, habitat and climate value. In the coming years, the Agency will seek support from legislators to stabilize funding to manage and expand the Natural Area Preserve and Natural Resource Conservation Area programs - vital tools to protect high ecological value areas.

"We all share the same goal of conserving the state's most important forests, and I will work tirelessly to make this happen," the Commissioner continued. "We're moving toward a future of innovation, a future of economically and ecologically sustainable forest management, and a future in which conservation is just as important, and just as valued, as harvests."

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