Friends of the White Salmon River is deeply rooted in the White Salmon watershed and in Klickitat and Skamania Counties. Activists since 1976, we’ve worked hard to protect the river. SDS Lumber Company is also rooted here, acquiring 100,000 acres of timberland over 75 years and managing that land and the mill for long-term sustainability.
SDS announced upcoming changes for the company’s future: All company assets, including timberland and the mill, will be placed on the market in the spring of 2021. This news, especially at this time, is shocking and raises serious concerns about the effect of the sale on its employees, local businesses, and the forest. SDS owns timberland in five counties, including Hood River, Wasco, Skamania, Yakima, and Klickitat, so their decision about future ownership will have regional effects.
SDS provides significant benefits to the community. It is a major economic engine. They directly employ about 300 people, and they contract with local timber operators. SDS owns the land in White Salmon where our supermarket and library are located. Their business is crucial to ancillary and supporting businesses. Innumerable community events and charities have benefited from SDS donations and support.
Equally, SDS forest parcels are deeply woven into the life of the area. The parcels are scattered throughout the region, often adjoining public land and along waterways. People hike, hunt, launch their boats, gather food, and enjoy wildlife observation on SDS lands. Many animal species utilize the habitat, corridors, and access to water provided by these parcels.
Our region is noted for biological diversity. Much of the SDS land plays a role in maintaining that diversity. SDS land is concentrated in watersheds that are crucial for salmon, steelhead, native trout, lamprey, and other native fish species. SDS lands in the Rattlesnake Creek watershed are critical for support of many of these fish species. SDS land also includes important oak habitat. Many of the seeps, springs, and tributaries that feed the White Salmon River originate on or cross SDS land.
SDS’ long-term/long-rotation timber management provides significant benefits to humans and wildlife. The company is notable for compliance with timber harvest regulations, including those concerning cultural resources. Leaving aside the question of whether those regulations sufficiently protect the environment, which they do not, it is clearly preferable for a company to comply with existing laws, and SDS largely has.
We know that the company has a responsibility to its shareholders; we hope and expect that responsibility can be met and still ensure the best possible outcome for the land, the community, the forest, and SDS. We think it is possible to preserve the Stevenson family legacy and to meet the shareholder financial goals while supporting the community and the watersheds where the company operates.
Protection of the watershed and the river is the mission of Friends of the White Salmon River, so of course our thoughts turn first to those issues. The potential negative outcomes are easy to see: The sale of SDS lands has the potential to lead to short-term timber harvest, followed by parcel fragmentation and residential development, leading to environmental stress and a host of potential negative changes.
The continued operation of the mill has been a driving force in maintaining the long-term harvest rotation practices used by SDS. We value the knowledge and skill and well-being of the many SDS employees — our friends and neighbors. For these and many other reasons, we would prefer to see the SDS business continued as a vertically-integrated forest and mill enterprise.
As a local environmental group, we do not presume to speak for others. We have, however, engaged in many conversations with people from all walks of life in the region who will be affected by the decision SDS makes. There is a high level of local concern about outcomes.
We are also speaking to those companies and organizations interested in acquiring the assets of the SDS Lumber Company. These are some of the concerns we’ve heard.
- Preserving the current business structure with forest land, mill, and equipment under one ownership
- Maintaining healthy forest conditions with diverse tree species
- Keeping economic benefits in the community
- Providing long-term habitat and wildlife corridors
- Protecting cultural resources, including treaty rights on ceded land
- Preserving public access to the land and streams, continuing current public access policies
- Storing carbon in the forest and land and using forest management practices to improve climate conditions
- Supporting the local economy with stable employment opportunities with benefits
- Implement forest practices for salmon recovery, including maintenance of water quality
- Exercising land management practices that protect ground and surface water supplies for drinking water
- Strengthening wildfire prevention at the landscape level and for residential safety
- Completing the promised transfer of SDS parcels within the Wild and Scenic river segment
- Avoiding forest fragmentation and parcel development.
We think public discussion, including local elected officials, is essential. An opportunity to express concerns and work toward the future together is both empowering and reassuring.
We invite people to start this discussion on our webpage. Follow this link and leave your comments and thoughts. We will seek ways to make on-going discussion productive and useful.
We encourage SDS to share what information they can over these next months and to energize the power of the community toward positive results for all.
Thank you for providing a forum for the community to weigh in on something so impactful to all of our futures. The awesome access to the outdoors is a leading reason people live and recreate in this area. Any loss of access to these natural spaces will be felt economically by multiple local communities and individuals. In addition to financial and economic impacts, we are in a precarious position environmentally. With such vast swaths of land hanging in the balance, the overall health of our local ecosystems is at stake. Many of these areas would be absolutely devastating to lose and would have potentially irrevocable consequences. I sincerely hope SDS will ensure their legacy is one of conservation in order to safeguard a healthy environment for future generations.
The lands around a White Salmon are a crucial part of community life and the health of the surrounding ecosystem. This sale clearly underlines how fragile public access and sustainable use of this land really is. Even if SDS is bought by a responsible, vertically integrated company, continued access is not guaranteed. Is there any potential for key areas to be bought or donated to a conservation group?
Hi Leslie, thanks for your comment. There are large conservation groups working on this, for sure. It is not known whether SDS will consider selling individual parcels or what offers they will consider. Consequently, it is important for us to identify what matters and to get that message out to SDS and maybe more importantly to prospective buyers.
When you look at that map and realize how much land is involved, it makes one realize what a huge effect any transfer of these lands will have on not just the White Salmon area, but outlying communities including Trout Lake, BZ Corner, Husum, Glenwood, Klickitat, and even into Oregon where they own broad swaths of land, too. This all is prime habitat for wildlife, provides outdoor recreation, and is our buffer during wildfire season. It is essential that any transfer of these lands take these values into account. The economic value of the outdoor recreation is significant and helps create an engine that helps our small towns pull through tough times. Please do what you can to stand up for our environment and our small towns.
So the area around Buck Creek and above Northwestern Park is so valuable for hiking and mountain biking. Also the area above Skyline hospital running toward Snowden is heavily used by hikers, joggers. Family man area in Hood River extending south and west is a major biking and hiking area. To lose these is to lose what has become valuable about the great outdoor access. If the loss is substantial, I am guessing people will move out of the area We must preserve these places as public access open space to preserve the culture of this place!
I was born and raised here. A member of Friends of the White Salmon River since the beginning. Please help to conserve our area for the amazing recreational and natural beauty area it is famous for.
REIT ownership would be absolutely devastating to the local economy and ecology. They have no interest in the long term condition of the land or community, just quarterly profits. They will extract the resources and sell the depleted land as quickly as possible. Or perhaps worse, leave the depleted land unmanaged and a major fire hazard. Aggressive legal depts, state and federal lobbying, fines, settlements and massive liability insurance coverage are built into the business plan. No payout will recover what our community stands to lose if these lands fall into the wrong hands.
I affirm the above comments and hope that we can find a path forward that includes all stakeholders in long-range planning that protects the river and respects the interests of all- especially First Nations, residents, and recreational users. Thanks to FWSR for stepping up and taking on the role of convening everyone!
My husband grew up in White Salmon and we have lived here over 20 years. My heart’s desire for is to see this region maintain the beauty and regional pride for decades to come. Land management is critical to support the diverse wildlife and allow respectful enjoyment of the land for recreational and commercial activities.
I hope that the forest service will acquire some of the parcels that are adjacent to the White Salmon, and Klickitat rivers. Especially in the areas that have been designated Wild and Scenic. This is a great opportunity to put parcels that should be public land, under the right stewardship.
Thank you to everyone at FOWS for this important and informative link. Especially appreciative of the maps of SDS properties. Probably like many others in the community, I was startled and apprehensive when seeing the extent of the holdings of this one company and realizing they are soon expected to change ownership.
My sincere hope is that both the sellers and potential buyers allow some open communication with the public and with the many interested and concerned locally based nonprofits. This transfer could be a wonderful opportunity for some of the more environmentally critical holdings to be transferred into public ownership, or at least be afforded some measure of future protection and/or continued access. For the family members who have been part of this community for many generations, that would be a genuine and long lasting legacy.
I think this is a wonderful outreach to the community. I’ve heard so many rumors over the past few months, and it’s good to know that FWSR is on top of it and representing the concerns we have, and bringing to light some concerns we didn’t even know we should have!
The topics you raise are very thought-provoking, and it would be wonderful to see some conversations among our neighbors here on this forum that you have provided.
Please continue to let the public know how we can raise our collective voice around our interest in working with stakeholders, the sellers, and the buyers to ensure we retain recreational access and ideally improve environmental practices on SDS lands.