Washington Puts $31 Million Toward Forests Where Elk Roam and Salmon Run

Polluters Fund the Biggest Conservation Win in Years

Washington just made its biggest bet on forests in a generation.

In May 2025, state legislators approved $31 million to protect working forests in western Washington, and the money comes from an unusual source: the companies that pollute the most.

The centerpiece is 2,357 acres of timberland tucked between the Black River and Capitol State Forest, where elk move through the trees and salmon still swim the tributaries. The land almost became a subdivision.

Now it never will.

The Land Between River and Forest

The protected acreage sits in southern Thurston County, about 20 miles southwest of Olympia. To the east, the Black River winds through wetlands and bottomland forest.

To the west, Capitol State Forest climbs into the foothills.

The land in between is classic Pacific Northwest timber country: Douglas fir, red alder, Oregon ash, and western red cedar. It rains here more than 50 inches a year, and the forest grows thick and fast.

Elk, Bear, and Bobcat Pass Through

This stretch of forest is not just trees. It is a wildlife highway.

Elk and black-tailed deer move between Capitol State Forest and the river lowlands. Black bear, bobcat, coyote, and fox hunt the corridors.

The wetlands along the Black River support beaver, river otter, and mink.

Conservation groups have spent years trying to protect this connectivity, and now 2,357 acres of it will stay wild.

Salmon Still Swim the Black River

The Black River does not look like much at first glance. It is slow and dark, stained by the tannins of the forest floor.

But salmon and steelhead still run these waters. Great blue herons stand motionless along the banks.

Kingfishers dive for fish.

The river and its tributaries drain one of the most ecologically diverse watersheds in the South Sound, and keeping the surrounding forest intact protects the water that the fish depend on.

A Forest That Almost Became Houses

Port Blakely Tree Farms bought this land in 2022 from a timber investment company. The previous owner could have sold it to a developer.

The acreage sits close enough to I-5 and Olympia that housing tracts would have made financial sense. Port Blakely had a different idea.

They wanted to prove that a working forest could serve both the timber economy and the climate, and they needed partners to make it happen.

Trees Will Grow 60 Years Now

Under a typical commercial rotation in Washington, trees get cut every 40 years or so. The new conservation easement changes that math.

These trees will grow for 60 years between harvests.

That extra 20 years means bigger trunks, more wildlife habitat, and far more carbon locked away in wood. The forest stays a working forest, but it works differently now.

First Deal of Its Kind in Washington

Conservation Northwest helped broker the easement and says it is the first of its kind in the state. Other conservation easements in Washington have blocked development or protected habitat.

This one does both and adds a requirement that has never appeared in a working forest easement here: the landowner must let trees grow longer than commercial norms allow.

Capitol Land Trust will hold the easement and enforce its terms permanently.

Capitol State Forest Next Door

The protected land borders Capitol State Forest, a 92,000-acre working forest managed by the Department of Natural Resources.

Capitol State Forest is laced with hundreds of miles of trails open to hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, and off-road vehicles.

The forest produces timber revenue for schools and counties while offering some of the best public recreation land in the South Sound. Protecting the adjacent private land keeps the ecosystem whole.

Polluters Paid for This

The $31 million comes from the Climate Commitment Act, which launched in 2023.

The law requires Washington’s biggest polluters to buy permits at quarterly auctions for every ton of carbon they release.

A quarter of that auction money goes into a Natural Climate Solutions Account, and legislators decided to spend $8 million of it on this easement.

Another $23 million will help the state buy timberland and protect older forests elsewhere.

77,000 More Acres Protected in August

The easement is part of a larger push. In August 2025, Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove signed an order setting aside 77,000 acres of older state forests for conservation.

These are not quite old growth, but they are biologically diverse and naturally resistant to wildfire. Upthegrove called it the biggest step forward for forest conservation in a generation.

The state now plans to sell carbon credits on some of this land instead of logging it.

More Deals Like This Are Coming

The Recreation and Conservation Office wants to create a formal program where landowners and land trusts can apply for similar easement funding. If the Black River deal works, it becomes a template.

More private timberland could shift to longer rotations. More wildlife corridors could stay connected.

The $31 million is not the end. It is the opening offer.

Visiting Capitol State Forest, Washington

Capitol State Forest sits about 15 miles southwest of Olympia and offers more than 100 miles of trails through working timberland.

The Mima Falls Trailhead is the most popular starting point, with a 3.6-mile loop to a 60-foot waterfall. Mountain bikers favor the Capitol Peak trails.

Off-road vehicle riders use the Bordeaux area. The forest is open year-round, and there is no entry fee.

From Olympia, take US-101 south to Littlerock and follow the signs.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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