​We support those who disrupted the logging of the Capitol Forest by removing the boundary markers for the “Carrot” timber sale.

We have listened to the scientists who tell us that westside Pacific Northwest forests are, by acre, the most carbon-absorbing in the world, and that we should no longer be cutting any of our mature natural forests, let alone those on public land.

We value the ecological riches and roles of these forests, which are boundless, but which include sheltering and cooling streams for salmon, which feed our endangered Southern Resident orcas. No mature forests, no salmon or orcas; it’s that simple.

We honor the Chehalis tribe, which has stated (about another of these sales) that “legacy forests play a critical role in protecting the genetic, biological, and ecological legacies of the authentic forests that our ancestors would have recognized.”

We honor the rest of the local community, as represented by the Thurston County Commissioners in their unanimous objection to this sale.

We prioritize the needs of the human and non-human living world over the desires of a forest products industry more interested in stock prices and the cost of capital than in good local jobs or sustainably managing our natural abundance for the long term.

We love this place and all its biodiversity, and want to shepherd it as responsibly as we can into the coming era of increasing climate extremes.

We call on the Department of Natural Resources to take responsibility and ban logging of legacy forests.

With great concern and hope,