Editorial: If a tree falls in a forest, can it build a school?
It’s not often that a Washington state Supreme Court ruling satisfies both sides of a lawsuit, but last week’s decision favoring the state Department of Natural Resources and its chief, Hilary Franz, in a case brought by environmental groups and others, seems to have done so.
Yet a satisfactory decision for both sides leaves open issues that the state, its officials, lawmakers — and ultimately residents and taxpayers — still will need to confront.
In a unanimous ruling, the state’s high court found for Franz and the agency and affirmed the DNR can continue to manage state trust lands — in particular its forestlands — for the financial benefit of schools and other institutions, including county fire districts, libraries and hospitals, further finding that its policies and practices were “neither unconstitutional nor arbitrary and capricious.”
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At the same time, the ruling made clear that DNR is not required to make maximizing revenue the priority over greater issues of land management, appearing to strengthen the argument that Franz has made in recent years to step up efforts to ensure forest health and protect public lands, including recent efforts to address climate resilience.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-if-a-tree-falls-in-a-forest-can-it-build-a-school/