Climate Commitment Act fund request is turning point for Quinault | Op-Ed - The Seattle Times
Climate Commitment Act fund request is turning point for Quinault | The Seattle Times
The Climate Commitment Act, Washington’s landmark climate law, includes a commitment to supporting tribal nations’ community, conservation and climate goals with 10% of generated revenue — prioritized to projects directly administered by tribes. This represents the state’s dedication to fostering climate adaptation and resilience, tribal sovereignty and addressing fundamental environmental inequities that put an undue burden on Indigenous peoples.
The Quinault Indian Nation, working with The Nature Conservancy, is seeking CCA funds to help the tribe acquire over 11,000 acres of privately owned forestlands within the boundaries of the Quinault Reservation. This forestland holds the possibility for the Quinaults to realize a vision of managing lands across the entire reservation in line with their values of balancing cultural and economic benefits, while also addressing climate change by leveraging the carbon storage capacity of their lands, benefiting all Washingtonians.
Travel to the western reaches of the Olympic Peninsula, and you will find the land of Quinault — dozens of miles of undeveloped coastline and hundreds of thousands of acres of lands and waters with towering evergreen trees and bountiful salmon streams. The Quinaults have lived on and stewarded these lands and waters since time immemorial — and the Quinault Indian Nation’s forestry, fisheries and other economic activities support over 900 local jobs throughout Grays Harbor County, the county’s largest employer.
Beginning in the 1800s, the Quinault people’s ability to continue their ways of life was severely undermined. In 1887, the General Allotment Act divided the once tribally owned 190,000-acre Quinault Indian Reservation into individually owned 80-acre allotments. This forced the Quinault Indian Nation from communal to individual ownership, and lumber companies quickly took the opportunity to purchase allotments to gain direct access to the forest’s wealth.
The basis for the very survival of Quinault culture and economy was threatened. Sustainable forest management became increasingly difficult, including protection of culturally and environmentally sensitive sites and maintenance of communal resources, such as the salmon and elk that have sustained Quinault peoples since time immemorial. For too long, the Quinault Indian Nation has been forced to manage its territory as a tree farm due to the fragmentation of the reservation — and it’s time to start managing the lands aligned with Quinault values, prioritizing sustainable forestry, community well-being, cultural vibrancy and climate action.
Since the 1970s, the tribe has been working to re-weave the reservation — bringing allotted and alienated forestlands back under Quinault Nation ownership. The Nation is now at a watershed moment and the timing is right: The 11,000+ acre property is the last remaining large industrial timberland, and the purchase would leave less than 10,000 acres of non-Indian owned allotments on the reservation. The acquisition is broadly supported by Quinault Tribal leadership, the industrial landowner, and diverse stakeholders including community and conservation partners like The Nature Conservancy.
We have asked the state Legislature to support this project with $25 million in funding from Climate Commitment Act revenue. This funding would directly support the acquisition of the industrial lands — and would enable holistic decision-making for conservation, culture, community and climate priorities across all tribally owned lands on the reservation at a scale not possible before.
If realized, over 3 million additional metric tons of carbon could be stored across the Quinault Nation’s lands over the next 20 years. Nature Conservancy data mapping has shown that Washington coastal temperate rainforests contain the densest forest carbon in our region and are much less threatened by wildfire, meaning climate benefits are deep and long-lasting. Other conservation benefits are wide-ranging, including protection and restoration of salmon and wildlife habitat and unique coastal ecosystems.
The state Senate has included $25 million for this project in its capital budget, and we call on the state House to do the same. The allocation of Climate Commitment Act funds to the Quinault Nation would exemplify the spirit and success of Washington’s most vital climate law, making significant contributions to carbon sequestration, providing benefit to all Washingtonians and helping meet conservation and climate goals.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”