Northeast Washington Forest Coalition welcomes Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers to discuss collaborative, balanced solutions for the Colville National Forest.

The Northeast Washington Forest Coalition (NEWFC) has been front-and-center in forest restoration and timber production, and several representatives from the Coalition participated in the meeting. Yesterday, at Stevens County Ambulance Training Center, the Congresswoman asked questions and listened to diverse voices who care about Northeast Washington forests. The speakers included Rodney Smoldon, Colville National Forest Supervisor; Wes McCart, Stevens County Commissioner; Kurtis Vaagen and Mike Petersen, President and Vice-President of NEWFC; and Francis Cullooyah, Kalispel Tribe Director of Culture. 

By working collaboratively for nearly 20 years, NEWFC and the Colville National Forest (CNF) have increased budgets, secured funding, expanded the scope, and implemented over 40 forest restoration projects. Today, demonstrated by recent numbers and awards, the CNF is a national leader in timber volume production. Prior to collaboration, the CNF conducted timber harvests on 2,000 - 4,000 acres annually, in the last four years, the CNF has conducted forest restoration activities on 14,000 - 20,000 acres annually.  In 2020, a record 122.726 million board feet were harvested on the forest, the most in the country. This accomplishment not only secures local economic viability but also improves ecological forest restoration and increases landscape resiliency on thousands of acres, but the work doesn’t stop there. 

“Since we’ve been successful in increasing the restoration acreage and projects on the forest, it’s time we expand our focus to enhance recreation, permanently protect wildlands, and acknowledge tribal cultural heritage. For this, we will need to pass legislation, and I appreciate Representative McMorris Rodgers for being here,” says Kurtis Vaagen, newly elected president of NEWFC and Vice President of Vaagen Brothers Lumber. 

Bobby Whittaker, NEWFC board member and recreation liaison, shared that the population is growing and recreation demand is on the rise. “To meet the recreation needs, NEWFC has advocated that the backlog of retained receipt dollars generated by timber sales be used on recreation trails. As a result, these resources have been put to work on motorized and non-motorized trails alike,” explained Whittaker.

Building off historic successes, NEWFC will soon release our Strategic Vision, which includes a broad outline and vision for the forest, some of which will require legislation to implement. 

“We are expanding our efforts to be more balanced on the Colville National Forest and our Strategic Vision will demonstrate this,'' stated Mike Petersen, NEWFC Vice-President. “In order to implement some of the Vision, legislation will be needed to secure areas for recreation, permanently protect wildlands, and honor the cultural heritage of native peoples in our region. We are thankful for Representative McMorris Rodgers’ visit and look forward to working together to assure good stewardship of our shared resource and a prosperous, diverse economy for generations to come.”

The most poignant and moving statement came from Kalispel Elder & Cultural Director Francis Cullooyah who said: “We need collaboration, we need to work together to make our area cleaner, to make our area stronger. We have future generations that are coming and we need to respect them. It is important that our animal life, our fish, birds, and everything has a future. Every day we are losing something and people in this room need to step it up…” Mr. Cullooyah finished with, "Let's smile, shake hands, and take care of one another because that's what it’s all about.”

Contacts

Kurtis Vaagen, President, NEWFC. Office: 509-684-5071, Email: kvaagen@vaagenbros.com 

Mike Petersen, Vice-President, NEWFC. Mobile: 509-990-5719, Email: mikeppetersen@gmail.com 

Bobby Whittaker, Board member, NEWFC. Mobile: 206-661-6778, Email: bobby@whittakeroutdoors.com

NEWFC’s mission is to work collaboratively with public and government interests to steward and conserve forest ecosystems so plants, animals, and communities thrive.

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