Welcome to Skagit County

February 9th, 2005

SKAGIT COUNTY FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST STATE OF WASHINGTON TO CHALLENGE CONTROVERSIAL LAKE WHATCOM PLAN

MOUNT VERNON – Skagit County yesterday filed a lawsuit against the State of Washington, challenging the validity of the Lake Whatcom Plan, which curbs trust land funding for county, health care and school projects and dramatically restricts land management in the area.

United General Hospital and the Mount Baker School District are also plaintiffs in the suit.

The state manages 15,700 acres of land in the Lake Whatcom area. It is part of 2.1 million acres of forestlands owned in trust and managed by and the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Under state law, these trust lands produce revenue that is set aside for beneficiaries such as public schools and universities as well as cities and counties. If income from trust land is reduced, state residents may have to pay higher taxes or do without essential services.

Skagit County officials claim the Lake Whatcom Plan has forced the state to renege on its fiduciary responsibility to manage the trust lands for its beneficiaries. They also say the Plan reaches outside the Lake Whatcom Watershed boundaries to areas where it has no impact on Lake Whatcom whatsoever.

The Lake Whatcom Plan affects five specific trusts: Capitol Building Lands, Common School Lands, Washington State University Lands, Skagit County Forest Board and Whatcom County Forest Board. Skagit County, United General Hospital and the Mount Baker School District are beneficiaries of the trust lands. There are other beneficiaries as well, including the Burlington –Edison School District.

“The Lake Whatcom plan is a land management strategy that handcuffs good forest management in favor of limited local interests,” said Commissioner Don Munks. “We believe this sets a bad precedent that can easily spread to other regions.”

In 2000, the Washington State Legislature adopted a bill that directed DNR to create a landscape management project for the Lake Whatcom Watershed. The watershed provides drinking water for 85,000 people. That law, however, also required DNR to establish a plan that removed a significant portion of the land from active management.

The Plan decreases regular harvesting of timber from trust lands. Under the plan, trust revenues will decrease during the next 20 years by $4.3 million. It forces a 50 percent reduction from the volume that DNR projects it can sell under the state’s Habitat Conservation Plan. As a trust beneficiary, Skagit County receives approximately $10 million dollars from Forest Board trust lands annually.

“Counties have been supportive and worked well with the Department of Natural Resources to allow them to manage land in a responsible matter. It’s unfortunate that one powerful individual politician can seek legislative remedies to problems that don’t exist,” said Skagit County Commissioner Ted Anderson, who also sits on the State DNR Board.

“This lack of fiduciary responsibility on Forest Board trust lands sets a bad precedence which would negatively impact other County junior taxing districts as well,” said Kendra Smith, Skagit County Natural Resources Land Policy Coordinator.

The lawsuit was filed in Skagit County’s Superior Court.

Trust Land Background
When Washington became a state in 1889, Congress granted more than three million acres to the new state. By law, these lands are held in trust and managed to provide revenues for public schools, state universities and state institutions. During the Great Depression, the state received more than 600,000 acres of additional timberland, much of it logged and/or abandoned. These lands were added to the trust land pool and reforested over the past several decades. Timber revenue from these lands pays for public services such as school construction, roads, hospitals and libraries in the 20 counties, where the lands are located. It also adds to the state general fund.

Since 1989, the forested trust lands have generated nearly $3 billion in revenue, reducing the need for taxes to pay for public projects and services. Washington’s trust land timber revenue provides $150 to $300 million a year to our state. It helps reduce taxes and fund important programs and projects including DNR’s trust land management.