Environmental groups sue to stop 400 acres of logging in WA's Elwha Watershed

Three environmental groups are suing to block the logging of nearly 400 acres of state forestland in Washington’s Elwha Watershed.

Filed Monday in Clallam County Superior Court, the lawsuit against the state’s Department of Natural Resources argues the agency failed to adequately assess the environmental harm of two timber sales, known as “Parched” and “Tree Well.” Logging the land would pose a “direct threat” to Port Angeles’ drinking water, which is sourced solely from the Elwha River, the lawsuit contends.

“We are so lucky to still have some of these forests left,” said Elizabeth Dunne, an attorney with Earth Law Center, one of the groups behind the lawsuit. “There’s only about 800 acres of structurally complex forests left in the watershed. And nearly half of those are these two timber sales that we appealed.”

Under the Department of Natural Resources’ standards, only trees that predate 1850 are considered old growth and set aside for conservation. The oldest stands proposed for harvest in the Parched sale are around 140 years old, dating back only to the 1880s. Both sales include stands more than 100 years old.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/06/05/environmental-groups-sue-to-stop-400-acres-of-logging-in-was-elwha-watershed/