John, 

Join us in celebrating a huge win after nearly a quarter-century of hard work! 

Last week, on November 12, the state made a decision that will benefit salmon, our watersheds, our forests, and the communities that depend on them. The Forest Practices Board voted to update an existing rule to provide long-needed, larger forested buffers along headwater streams. Timber companies and landowners will no longer be able to log up to the streambanks in these places.

This victory belongs to all of Washington and wouldn't have been possible without the hundreds of you who showed up, spoke up, and stood firm for ecological protection and water quality. The rulemaking withstood years of political pressure, coordinated misinformation campaigns, and even last-minute attempts by the Trump administration to derail the process. It passed because in the end, the science was clear; Tribal partners and state agency leadership stood firm; and the public spoke clearly.

More than 800 of you took the time to comment in support of the updated rule. Together, we successfully pushed back against industry and kept the record straight.

Why is this a big deal? We’ve been advocating for this updated rule for decades. Washington Conservation Action was a signatory to the 1987 agreement that led to the state’s Adaptive Management Program, with the goal of determining whether private forest practice regulations protect resources adequately and to update those regulations when the evidence shows a change is needed. 

So exactly what’s at stake? The updated rule requires wider, continuous 50- to 75-foot forested buffers along streams in Western Washington’s forested landscape classified by the Department of Natural Resources as “Type Np.” These are non-fish-bearing streams that flow year-round. These streams are critical because they deliver cool, clean water, nutrients, and sediment into fish-bearing streams, and they strongly influence the health of downstream salmon habitats. 

More than 19,000 miles of these waterways flow in Western Washington. They make up around 80% of stream lengths in most Western Washington watersheds. Until now, logging has been allowed up to the streambank along 50% of the length of this sort of stream. 

We need your continued support to make sure this generational decision stands.

Thanks for all that you do,

Rachel Baker (she/her)
Forest Program Director, Washington Conservation Action