(Credit: © Photos by forest2sea.com) Elwha River Valley “As Indigenous Peoples – stewards of the lands and rivers here since time immemorial – we know that all life is interconnected. A river needs a healthy forest, and salmon need a healthy river. As Wy-Kan-Ush-Pum or “Salmon People”, we know that our own well-being is inseparable from healthy ecosystems.” – Honorable Paulette Jordan

In 2022, Earth Law Center and Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition launched a campaign to cancel the "Power Plant" timber sale in the Elwha River Watershed. We did it! In December 2023, the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) cancelled "Power Plant" and slated 69 acres of Elwha Forest for permanent protection with public funds. (See photo below). The award-winning short documentary Last Stand: Saving the Elwha River's Legacy Forests, featuring Elizabeth Dunne, Esq., founder of Earth Law Center's Cascadia Bioregion Program, shares this story to inspire hearts and minds.

Although a significant win, the remaining 57 acres of forest in the original sale area remains unprotected. We are now working with the new Public Lands Commissioner to protect this forest by creating a Cedar Sanctuary and Native Plant & Medicinal Food Forest.

The forest contains several Western Red Cedar groves and over 45 native plants. These cedars and plants are part of a way of life for Indigenous peoples in the region who use cedar for clothing, baskets, canoes, and more. Very few accessible gathering places remain and protection of this special place will restore the relationship between people and the land. It's about justice, cultural revitalization, and community resilience.

Please make a tax deductible donation today if you'd like to help us acquire this land or otherwise support protection of Elwha Legacy Forests! (*If you wish to make a substantial donation and have questions please contact Elizabeth at edunne@earthlaw.org).

We also continue the hard work of protecting the nearly 850 acres of legacy forest remaining in the Elwha Watershed. Science and ancestral knowledge tells us that these forests are absolutely critical to protecting stream flows and habitat for endangered species.

This past year, Earth Law Center:

filed 2 new lawsuit (with co-plaintiffs Center for Whale Research & Orca Network) seeking to protect over 200 acres of Elwha Legacy Forests;
started the process for creating a conservation area in the entire Elwha Watershed, and
worked with our Coast Salish Tribal liaison to launch the Intertribal Alliance of Forest Protectors

ELC and coalition members do public educational events, community hikes, and rare plant surveys.

CELEBRATION! A portion of the protected forest that was part of the now cancelled "Power Plant" timber sale along the banks of the Elwha River.

(Credit: © Photos by forest2sea.com)

Where are the Elwha Legacy Forests?

The iconic Elwha River is 45-miles long and runs from the Olympic Mountains to the Salish Sea in the State of Washington, territory of the Klallam people, near Port Angeles. A portion of the watershed is in Olympic National Park -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve. The remaining portion is threatened by clearcut logging.

The mature, legacy forests near the river are an integral part of the Elwha River Watershed. The river -- site of the largest dam removal in US History at that time (2014) -- is a symbol of hope and renewal worldwide. We don't think it makes sense to industrially log in a watershed where over $327 million in federal funding has been spent on river restoration.

Elwha Forests are the life source of many iconic and endangered animals, including Owls, Salmon, Southern Resident Orcas, and Marbled Murrelet to name a few.

(Credit: © Photos by forest2sea.com). "Aldwell" timber sale in the Elwha Watershed during harvest.

Scientific evidence shows that industrial logging in the Elwha Watershed:

threatens in-stream River flows and recovering salmon populations, and, in turn, the critically endangered Southern Resident Orcas;
decimates wildlife corridors;
destroys soil health;
leads to the spread of toxic herbicides;
wipes out essential carbon sinks; and
threatens the sole drinking water supply for over 25,000 people in and around the small rural town of Port Angeles, WA.

(Credit: Center for Whale Research)

Why protect legacy forests?

Legacy forests are older, structurally complex forests, often containing a number of old-growth trees. These forests retain the biological, structural, and genetic legacies of the natural forests that once dominated the Pacific NW. Legacy forests in the Pacific NW are a haven for biodiversity and among the very best in the world at carbon storage and sequestration. Legacy forests have unique ecological, social, cultural, and spiritual attributes. If clearcut today, they are irreplaceable in the time frame necessary to mitigate the climate and biodiversity crisis. There are approximately 112,000 acres of unprotected legacy forests on land managed by Washington's Department of Natural Resources.

This is a rapid response to the urgent need to protect these Forests. Hundreds of acres have already been lost. And we can’t afford to lose anymore.

(Credit: © Photos by forest2sea.com)

Elwha Forest Fund

Protect the Elwha River Watershed