WA to conserve thousands of acres of ‘legacy forests’

ISSAQUAH — Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove is making good on a campaign promise to conserve thousands of acres of older forests in Washington dubbed legacy forests.

The state Department of Natural Resources, with Upthegrove at the helm, announced Tuesday it would conserve 77,000 acres of these structurally complex forests.

The state defines structurally complex forests as those with gaps in the canopy, diverse species growing below and a relatively low presence of large fallen logs or snags. Mostly it is time that allows for this diversity and growth. These are forests generally harvested in the last century between the 1920s and post-World War II.

They are very close to fully mature forests with increased biodiversity.

These forests will no longer be in the state’s tradition