The timber money problem in lands commissioner race

Plus the fiscal impact statements for initiative survive a legal challenge, and some campaign cash nuggets

In 1889, the sea of evergreens dotting Washington State looked like an everlasting cash stream for public education—at least, they did on paper to the founders.

For 135 years, the Washington State Constitution¹ entrusted the state’s Department of Natural Resources with selling boatloads of state-owned timber to cover the ever-rising costs of K-12 school construction. Over the generations, timber sales also paid for roads, libraries, universities, and even fire and hospital districts. 

Environmentalists contend the mandate has helped warp the department’s forest practices and turned it into an ATM for Big Timber. Its waning financial returns for the state’s K-12 Common School Trust, which pays for public school construction, have put it under the microscope again.

King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove and former U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, two of the leading candidates for Commissioner of Public Lands