City Of Everett Could See $3.5 Million From Timber Sale

A delay of two years may bring the City of Everett an extra three to four hundred thousand dollars.

Back in 2017 the Everett City Council approved an ordinance allowing sale of surplus timber in the Lake Chaplain area of east Snohomish County where the City of Everett gets its water. That sale was delayed over construction projects in the area at the time. Another sale was approved in 2019 that was expected to bring in $3.1 million dollars but that sale was also delayed.

With lumber prices currently very high the City Council Wednesday night will look to again call for bids to harvest timber in the designated area. That’s expected to bring in at least $3.5 million dollars to the city.

Below is the summary from the City Council Agenda outlining the recent history. and here’s a link to the action first approved in 2017 along with a copy of the Timber Notice of Sale.

The surplus of the timber took place 9/14/19 via Resolution #7412. The sale of the timber was delayed allowing the City to take better advantage of market prices. A summary of the City’s forestry management obligations is below.

In 2009, the City entered into an agreement with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and PUD No. 1 of Snohomish County for the management of City lands at Lake Chaplain. This agreement required the City to develop the Lake Chaplain Tract Wildlife Habitat Management Plan.

This plan was modified in 2015 by the Safe Harbor/Cooperative Habitat Enhancement Agreement with United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Washington State Department of Natural Resources. This plan manages timber harvest and forestry activities to maintain and enhance habitat for wildlife. Periodic timber harvest creates shrub forage and enhanced habitat for certain species, such as deer and northern flying squirrel.

In other areas, timber harvest is delayed, to provide habitat for species that need more mature forest habitat. Resolution #7412, which authorized the surplusing of timber on the Chaplain Gap Timber Sale #124-10 and this current authorization to call for bids, will continue to accomplish the habitat objectives approved in the Lake Chaplain Tract Wildlife Habitat Management Plan.