Forests need to be thinned

Washington’s Board of Natural Resources is considering banning timber harvesting on state lands. That is extremely unwise. Instead, the Board must insure its healthy forest policies incorporate all management tools including planting, thinning and logging.

The board, established in 1957, sets policies to manage Washington’s 5.6 million acres granted by Congress in 1889. More than 3 million acres were designated as trust lands to support various public institutions of which 2.1 million acres are forests.

Banning timber harvesting robs critical funds from K-12 public schools, timber dependent co...