grays harbor county and weyco...this should be interesting

[t6]

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[MarkyMark]

No matter what happens I'm purchasing the Aberdeen Tree Farm permit. Bobcat promised to give me coordinates to his honey hole so I'm good to go. Thanks bobcat!

[bowbuild]

No matter what happens I'm purchasing the Aberdeen Tree Farm permit. Bobcat promised to give me coordinates to his honey hole so I'm good to go. Thanks bobcat!

Honey hole for the Aberdeen tree farm....now that's laughable.....honey hole...

[dreamunelk]

Getting even more interesting.  Hope to see lots of orange and camo at the commissioners meeting.

County hoping to clamp down on fee-for-access to timberlands

By Steven Friederich

The Vidette

MONTESANO — County Commissioner Wes Cormier says that timber companies like Weyerhaeuser should not be allowed to get a tax break for growing timberland, while at the same time charging hunters, hikers and berry pickers fees to access that land.

Such multi-use activities are currently allowed under the county’s “open space” forest designation, a state-designed program that came into place in 1971 allowing timber companies to get a break on their annual property taxes with the knowledge that the county will recover most of those taxes when the timber is eventually harvested. But Cormier has proposed tweaking the program to give companies a choice — either don’t charge fees for access or don’t get the property tax break.

The state put the program in place but left it to the counties to determine what should be in the forest management plan that timber companies are required to abide by and the Grays Harbor County commissioners speaheaded by Cormier have proposed an ordinance that would prevent fees for access as a condition of opting into the “open space” tax break program.

“The county can’t regulate designated forestland,” Cormier said. “That’s all done at the state level. But what we do manage at the county level is the timber management forest plan so we can add requirements to a timber management forest plan and we can require certain things we want the assessor to uphold.”

A public hearing on the ordinance has been set for 2 p.m., Monday, June 23 in the county commission chambers of the County Administration Building in Montesano. Officially, the ordinance states that the county’s timber management plan required for private owners will be “modified to prohibit commercial recreational fees for access on Designated Forest Land, and property owners acknowledge that such use is prohibited under the Designated Forest Land classification, and such use will result in violation of their timber management plan and removal of property from the Designated Forest Land program.”

County Commission Chairman Frank Gordon says he’s read the ordinance and praised the job Cormier has done in finding a fine line that the county can use to regulate a pretty tough issue.

Cormier is careful to note that the county cannot force any private property owner to grant access to their lands for free.

However, the tax break is an “opt in” system. There’s no requirement that Weyerhaeuser opt into the tax break. It’s just been to the company’s best interest over the years to do so. The property tax breaks given to timber companies like Weyerhaeuser can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Cormier said the ordinance allows timber owners like Weyerhaeuser to opt into the program — and completely cut off access. They just can’t charge for access.

Weyerhaeuser could also choose to designate part of its land into the “open space” program and other parts out of it. If timberland owners choose not to get the property tax break, then the land is assessed like any other piece of property and they are taxed the full amount.

“The appraiser would assess the land and value the timber as almost an improvement, taking into consideration it would have ‘this many board ft. and have an estimate of its value,” said Cormier, who used to be an appraiser in the Assessor’s Office before becoming a county commissioner two years ago.

State Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, said Grays Harbor County is taking a novel approach to an issue that he’s heard scores of complaints about since it was first proposed months ago.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of attention on this and I look forward to the public hearing,” Blake said.

Weyerhaeuser started charging fees for access in Oregon about a year ago and launched the program here in Washington state some months ago. The timber company used to allow free access for anyone. Now, the company charges several hundred dollars in some cases and mandates separate permits for each of its gates. Anyone caught on the property without a permit will be charged with trespassing — and, for some hunters, there have been multiple generations hunting on the Weyerhaeuser land. For years, there was a give and take between the timber companies and the hunters.

Timberland owners risked their properties being dump sites, but hunters and berry pickers coming on to the land would help catch those trying to illegally cut cedar or other valuable timber.

The ordinance states that fees for commercial recreation includes “means activity access for which a fee is charged, including but not limited to hiking, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, jogging, berry picking, mushroom picking, or floral salal picking for amusement, entertainment or recreation.”

That means, to get the property tax designation, companies would not be allowed to even charge salal pickers for access to the land.

“I’ve pondered all of the unattended consequences to us passing this ordinance,” Cormier said. “I’d rather repeal laws than pass new ones. For me, this ordinance is worth it. The taxpayers of Grays Harbor County should not subsidize corporations, who are trying to get a taxbreak and charge for access. Either, it’s timberland or it’s multi-recreation commercial land. It can’t be both.”

Weyerhaeuser spokesman Anthony Chavez said he was traveling and didn’t have time for an interview. He emailed a statement: “We are evaluating the ordinance and question the County’s authority to tax our timberlands in this way. Our preliminary research suggests the ordinance is inconsistent with State law and invalid. Weyerhaeuser wants to keep its private lands open for public access in Oregon and Washington, but that has become increasingly challenging and costly in recent years. We believe the program will help to reduce or eliminate vandalism, dumping and other illegal activities. Fees allow for us to offset costs that are incurred as a result of allowing the public access to our property, for example road maintenance. We have run similar programs on our private lands in the southeastern United States for several years.”

[Magnum_Willys]

What happens if Weyco calls the County's bluff and says ok if we can't charge a fee then the lands are closed - then what?  Do the Commissioners want to play that hand?

[bobcat]

What happens if Weyco calls the County's bluff and says ok if we can't charge a fee then the lands are closed - then what?  Do the Commissioners want to play that hand?

 

That's what worries me. The Aberdeen tree farm is only $75 and there's 8,000 permits being offered. So anybody who wants one should be able to get one. Who can't afford $75?  I'd rather it stay open for motorized access for a small fee than be only open for non-motorized access for free. Or worse- shut sown completely.

[fireweed]

I'm glad to see Grays Harbor getting tough.  Pretty soon this issue might get beyond Weyco mouthpiece Anthony and be addressed by someone other than the messenger spouting talking points about garbage dumping.  As for them shutting everything down, let them.  It's worth the risk.  Then formally challenge their SFI certification if the do not provide public recreation (which IS required if they want to be SFI certified). 

Besides, the real solution will be through the state re-do of the tax breaks.

[Harbor_hunter]

What happens if Weyco calls the County's bluff and says ok if we can't charge a fee then the lands are closed - then what?  Do the Commissioners want to play that hand?

 

That's what worries me. The Aberdeen tree farm is only $75 and there's 8,000 permits being offered. So anybody who wants one should be able to get one. Who can't afford $75?  I'd rather it stay open for motorized access for a small fee than be only open for non-motorized access for free. Or worse- shut sown completely.

A lot of people around Grays Harbor county would probably have a tough time coming up with $75 extra Bobcat.  I realize you can pinch pennies here and there and should be able to come up with the money.  A lot of people around here can hardly afford to pay their bills, let alone afford much extra.   

[blackdog]

A large crowd monday is important and will send a message.

[NWHydroprint]

If they shut it completely down is it really any different for the people that can't afford it now?

I feel either way at this rate hunters are not going to support each other so when a bill comes up to ban hunting or limit it those hunters that were priced out or locked out will cast votes to end what has already ended for them!

 For those that want to buy these permits and leases remember you will need all the hunters in order to continue what you love and they onced loved to do.

[snarkybull]

I'm glad to see Grays Harbor getting tough.  Pretty soon this issue might get beyond Weyco mouthpiece Anthony and be addressed by someone other than the messenger spouting talking points about garbage dumping. As for them shutting everything down, let them.  It's worth the risk.  Then formally challenge their SFI certification if the do not provide public recreation (which IS required if they want to be SFI certified). 

Besides, the real solution will be through the state re-do of the tax breaks.

kapow!  the fallout would be loud enough to be heard in olympia.

short term pain, long term gain.  i'm in.

[stevemiller]

What happens if Weyco calls the County's bluff and says ok if we can't charge a fee then the lands are closed - then what?  Do the Commissioners want to play that hand?

If I read it correctly if they do shut it down completely then they get fully taxed for the land,Which will undoubtedly be quite costly to the timber company and quite lucrative to the county.Full tax on improvements(timber)Will be a lot of coin.

[dreamunelk]

Actually the county will not get more money.  Instead the tax burden would shift or equal out.  So a homeowner like me who currently pays higher taxes to off set the timberland owners lower tax will see my tax rate go down. 

[stevemiller]

Sounds good to me,The problem with that would be 


Its like I said earlier in this thread,They were given tax breaks and some of the people that started off in this thread protecting the land owners rights just didn't know or understand the ins and outs of these deals that the timber companies got when they purchased these large tracks of land.Now that people are pushing for them to fallow those guidelines we should get behind them as much as we can.Yes they have a choice close it up and pay full taxes on the land (because they want to get greedy)Or leave it open as it was before.A lot of these co. across the U.S are starting to develop these lands and that needs to be stopped as well.  When these lands were purchased turning them into housing developments and such was far from what the people wanted.If these co. were allowed to systematically turn all of this forest land into suburbs what would we have left?

[grundy53]

How did the hearing go? Any news?

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