Many older forests spared by Washington state order. Others to be logged

Many older forests spared by Washington state order. Others to be logged John Ryan August 28, 2025 / 8:32 am

An executive order by Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove has put 77,000 acres of older forests off-limits to logging.

“What we're doing today is the largest forest conservation action in Washington in a generation,” Upthegrove said at a press conference at Tiger Mountain State Forest in Issaquah on Tuesday. “This is the kind of forest we want future generations to inherit.”

State officials call the woods to be protected “structurally complex forests,” referring to habitat elements like gaps in the canopy that allow to sunlight to reach the forest floor to support a variety of understory vegetation. Recently planted forests usually lack such elements, w