Clearcuts, landslides and flooding

· Seattle Times: "Logging and landslides: What went wrong?"

With little scrutiny from state geologists, Weyerhaeuser has been allowed to clear-cut unstable slopes. When December's storms hit, many of these heavily logged mountains gave way to hundreds of landslides.

· KING 5 News: "Officials debate logging's effect on Lewis Co. flooding"

The state Forest Practices Board cleared its entire agenda Wednesday to dig into logging's possible connection to the Lewis County floods.

· Seattle Times: "Risky timber practices worsened December flooding"

While some in government and the timber industry have referred to the record floods as an "act of God," clearly there was a human hand involved that made a bad situation worse. In this case, the buck stops at the Department of Natural Resources, tasked with permitting timber sales — even on private land, in this case Weyerhaeuser — on slide-prone, steep slopes.

· The Olympian Editorial: "DNR must look at logging practices"

Officials from the state Department of Natural Resources need to determine whether existing logging practices played a major role in December's flooding in Southwest Washington.

· Seattle Times: "Weyerhaeuser, environmentalists argue logging's effect on floods"

A state Senate committee heard sharply divergent views Thursday about the role that logging may have played in exacerbating the early-December floods in Southwest Washington.

· KING 5 News: "Clear-cut logging may have played part in devastating floods"

Logging practices, as well as the state's oversight of clearcutting on steep slopes, came under scrutiny Thursday at a special legislative hearing on whether logging and development might have played a role in December's devastating southwest Washington floods.

· The Daily Astorian: "What's become of Weyerhaeuser? Why did the multinational scalp a steep hillside?"

Editorial, December 27, 2007; The recently published photo of a Weyerhaeser clear-cut on a steep mountain slope in Lewis County, Wash., has called into question whether the forestry giant is as environmentally conscious as it has proclaimed. There is some evidence that slides from this clear-cut contributed to flooding and damage downstream.

· Seattle Times: "Stop clear-cutting on steep slopes"

Letters to the Editor, December 23, 2007

· The Columbian: "I-5 flood-protection study needs to weigh effect of upstream logging"

Editorial, December 18, 2007

· Seattle Times: "Mudslide photo spurs look at logging practices"

December 16, 2007; Nearly 3 ½ years ago, Weyerhaeuser asked state officials for approval to clear-cut 106 acres on a steep mountain slope fronting on Stillman Creek in Lewis County.

· Seattle Times: "Did development, logging set the stage for disaster?"

December 9, 2007; Now as the water recedes and residents of Lewis County take stock, many are looking back in time, wondering how much the legacy of development in the floodplain, and clear-cut logging in the upriver drainages, contributed to their woes.

· Seattle Times: "Flood victims interested in helping, being helped — not finding a scapegoat"

Guest Opinion by Mark Doumit, executive director of the Washington Forest Protection Association, a trade association representing private forest landowners in Washington State.

· NW Public Radio: "Debate Continues Over Steep Slope Logging"

Listen to Austin Jenkins' report on a tour of the site of the December Stillman Creek mudslide.

· Centralia Chronicle: "Weyco’s Clear-Cut Mudslide Could Prompt New Rules"

Representatives from Weyerhaeuser, the state Department of Natural Resources and the University of Washington share information about the Stillman Creek landslide during a Forest Practices Board tour of the West Lewis County Weyerhaeuser property on Tuesday, June 10, 2008

· KING 5 News: "Logging, landslides debated at forestry meeting"

State forestry officials took a field trip Tuesday to examine the relationship between clear-cut logging and last year's Lewis County floods. Their trip took them to a Weyerhaeuser tree farm above the flood lands, where Weyerhaeuser and State Natural Resources officials explained to the State Forest Practices Board the way they assess areas to be logged.

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· Seattle Times: "Slides putting our highways in danger"

The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which enforces forestry rules, can restrict clear-cutting when geological reviews indicate landslides could put public safety or public resources at risk. But near Highway 6 and other roadside logging sites, state foresters often have opted to skip these reviews when approving logging permits.