PEAK PUTTERS

How Many State Natural Resource Agencies Are Needed?
By Christopher Dunagan (Contact)
Monday, September 14, 2009

OLYMPIA —

Creating two giant agencies to protect Washington’s environment, manage fish and wildlife and oversee state-owned lands is one of 26 government-reform ideas put forward Monday by a governor’s task force.

Under equal consideration are suggestions to consolidate natural resource functions into three, four or even five state agencies.

“They are not recommendations or even options,â€

CONSOLIDATIOIN....hmmmmm. I know I've heard that term before and it didn't survive very long before reverting back to CAYOSS!

Timber revenues and log prices are moving up from their 25-year lows, but the news is hardly rosy. The latest DNR Economic and Timber Revenue Forecast published today doesn’t see the agency’s total revenues coming back to 2007 levels — when the agency produced $250 million annually — until sometime in 2013. This year’s revenue will be just under $170 million. The average DNR composite timber price hit a cyclical high of $375 per thousand board feet (mbf) in mid-2006. The composite price that the agency received for logs dropped to a low of just $130/mbf in April. A board foot is 12â€