The Restoration Bargain · Episode 9 of 13 · 21 min
What the Bargain Cost
No new wilderness has been designated on the Colville National Forest since Salmo-Priest in 1984, zero acres across the whole collaborative era. This is the critics' episode, and it gives them the floor through three ledgers: ecological costs to lynx and marten, courtroom losses that vacated parts of the 2019 forest plan, and the human cost when the plan passed over the coalition's alternative. The industry side's answer is also given.
Who's who
- Timothy Coleman+1 more episodeKettle Range Conservation Group director who left the coalition
- Russ Vaagen+2 more episodesCoalition board president who criticized the 2019 forest plan
- Mike Petersen+2 more episodesThe Lands Council director critical of the 2019 forest plan decision
- Rodney Smoldon+1 more episodeColville National Forest supervisor through the A to Z years
- Stanley A. BastianChief judge who vacated the Sanpoil decision in 2023
- Glenn CasamassaRegional Forester who signed the 2019 Record of Decision
Where it happens
- Salmo-Priest Wilderness, Washington41,335 acres designated in 1984, still the only wilderness
- Kettle Crest, WashingtonRoadless area west of Republic excluded from recommended wilderness in 2019
- Sanpoil watershed, WashingtonProject whose vacatur took part of the forest plan down
- Sherman Pass, WashingtonSite of a field trip where openings exceeded written rules
Timeline
- 1984Congress designates the Salmo-Priest Wilderness
- 2002Coalition founded
- October 21, 2019Record of Decision recommends 61,700 acres of wilderness, not the coalition's alternative
- June 21, 2023Court vacates the Sanpoil decision and portions of the 2019 forest plan
- Late January 2025Bulldog project settles over lynx habitat
- September 16, 2025Sxwuytn project approval vacated
Still debated
The outcome of the Forest Service's appeal in the Sanpoil case could not be confirmed. The science behind the lynx thinning restriction and the goshawk prescriptions is contested, and the coalition's wilderness ask is variously given as 120,000 to 200,000 acres or more.
