Jul 26, 2021 | Alert, News Articles, Under Canvas
Come have your voice be heard!!! The hearing on the Conditional Use Permit for Under Canvas is scheduled for July 30. The public notice and details of how to participate in the Zoom hearing can be found here https://www.klickitatcounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/10641/UC-Notice-of-Continued-Public-Hearing
Comments are important. Comments are limited to three minutes, and you must register with the Klickitat County Planning Department before July 28. planning@klickitatcounty.org
We continue to oppose this project. It is not compatible with the proposed location and zoning, and it will impose hardships on the local community, including increased fire danger. Furthermore, a Conditional Use Permit would impose conditions of operations, but Klickitat County is a “complaint driven” county which only enforces regulations when there is a complaint. So the conditions and mitigations in the Conditional Use Permit are meaningless.
Read the FWSR letter submitted to the Klickitat Planning Commission.
If you want to delve into the application and the history of it so far, you can do that here https://www.klickitatcounty.org/1261/Under-Canvas
Note that the appeal of the SEPA (environmental determination) is being held on July 29. You can zoom in and listen, but no public comments will be taken. If you have time, this should be a most interesting hearing. The Zoom link is in the public notice here https://www.klickitatcounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/10641/UC-Notice-of-Continued-Public-Hearing
May 28, 2021 | Alert, News Articles, SDS Lumber
None of the Friends’ list of 13 environmental and community concerns and values (https://friendsofthewhitesalmon.org/2021/02/pending-sds-land-sale/) is addressed or supported in this brochure. On the contrary, such statements as “opportunity to increase harvest level,” “resulting in production levels below potential,” “mature forest inventory with 85% over 50 years old,” and “higher and better use” indicate this sale will violate some or all of those values. No surprise: a review of this firm’s history, language used on its website (https://pwpartners.com/), and partner biographies shows quite clearly that money and profit is the sole concern of this organization. Its investment advice makes little distinction about the quality of its client enterprises, other than profit potential — guns or butter, all the same to them. We should expect forests and their trees to be viewed solely as resources to be exploited, as are communities.
P/W/P is a large international investment advisory firm, based in New York City. They also operate separate capital management and investment businesses. The firm has advised in more than $1 trillion worth of asset transactions in diverse fields, including big pharmaceuticals, big fossil fuels (heavily), big mining, big financial, and big food. Familiar names include Occidental Petroleum, Shell Oil, Estee Lauder Cosmetics, Pay Pal, Morgan Stanley, the Carlyle Group, Pacific Gas & Electric, Hostess Brands, Sprint, TMobile, Prudential Financial, Gulfport Energy, Pabst Brewing, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Del Monte, Monsanto, Re/Max, New York Life, HP, Google, Blackrock, Pepsi, Delta Airlines, and Office Depot. Of special local interest is P/W/P’s involvement in the sale of Portland’s Arc Logistics to Zenith Energy, currently a major issue in fossil fuel exports and the passage of oil trains through the Columbia Gorge.
P/W/P’s specialty has been mergers and assets, which include some very large projects — such as the AT&T/Time Warner merger ($109 billion). The firm has grown steadily since its origin in 2006.
A review of this company’s hundreds of clients and specialties shows this evidently to be P/W/P’s second venture into forest real estate. Let’s help make it their last.
May 9, 2021 | Alert, News Articles, SDS Lumber
Pat Arnold, on behalf of Friends of White Salmon, has submitted the following response to SDS’s “Project Steelhead” solicitation:
Friends of the White Salmon River
friends@friendsofthewhitesalmon.org
Statement on SDS sale opening brochure May 4, 2021
“Project Steelhead” reads the headline on the glossy brochure announcing the opening of the sale of SDS. Perella Weinberg Partners, (P/W/P) a large international investment advisory firm, based in New York City, prepared this document to market SDS to potential investors.
“Key Investment Highlights” tells investors where the profits are to be found.
· “potential for significant harvest” meaning, of course, that the new owner can cut a lot of trees really fast.
· “Higher and Better Use” sale, meaning selling parcels along the White Salmon and other waterways for high-end residential use with “river views” and “river access”. Shoreline buffers will disappear.
· “Mature forest Inventory with 85% over 50 years old, and potential for significant harvest”, meaning not only can the new owner cut fast, they can cut high-value trees.
NOWHERE is there mention of a chance to protect the environment, store carbon, or help the community. SDS is nothing more than a bunch of opportunities to make lots of money – all the parts are put on display, but the sum of those parts, a firm that has been a good steward of the land and a good community partner, is nowhere to be seen.
So now we know what we look like, our forest, our fish, our roads, our jobs, and our community to this large investment firm, now speaking for SDS. Fodder for investment profits is what we look like to them. You can read about P/W/P here.
We are not surprised at this profit before people, corporations before community approach. We had hoped that SDS would pay some mind to the needs and desires of this community and these watersheds that have supported them for so long.
SDS has for decades refused to take the simplest step to protect fish habitat on the Lower White Salmon Wild & Scenic segment. That step would have been to hold to their agreement to sell 700 acres into public hands to protect the river. They first agreed, then walked away. Profits before fish, they said then, and they say again now.
“Project Steelhead” indeed. It is hard to comprehend how this name could have been chosen for this sale. Hubris? Blindness? Ignorance? Or just plain venality, hoping that the name of this magnificent, courageous creature will disguise the harm being done to the species and the world which it needs to survive.
We are deeply saddened to be writing this. We have spent many hours over many months working with the hope of a more humane outcome. The sales brochure makes it absolutely clear that the outcome will be maximum profits for SDS and for investors, at whatever price the rest of us will pay. Weep with us.
Mar 19, 2021 | Alert, News Articles
On March 11, 2021, the U.S. Forest Service, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, announced their proposal to reissue 10-year permits to existing permit holders who offer whitewater boating services for both the White Salmon and Klickitat Rivers. The proposal will also establish a Temporary Use Pool of 500 service days on the White Salmon and will increase the Klickitat River Temporary Use Pool from 200 to 300 service days. The eight-page Decision Memo includes the historical background, the proposed action, as well as a summary of comments and responses received during the public involvement process.
Feb 17, 2021 | Alert, SDS Lumber, Spring Creek Logging
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.
