Stark contrasts in race for public-lands job

By Craig Welch
Seattle Times staff reporter

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The two leading contenders to oversee Washington state's public lands favor wind farms for cleaner energy and think they can make the management of state forests eco-friendly.

Then, the similarities between Republican Doug Sutherland and Democrat Mike Cooper quickly taper off.

Sutherland, who is finishing his first four-year term as commissioner of public lands, has moved to have state forests certified as environmentally sustainable by using an independent auditing process created by the timber industry. He recently completed a long-term plan to increase logging on state trust lands in Western Washington by at least 30 percent to help supply money for public-school construction. And his campaign is supported overwhelmingly by more than a dozen sawmills and timber companies.

Mike Cooper Party: Democrat Age: 52 Residence: Edmonds Education: Linfield College (Oregon) and Edmonds Community College Work/political experience: Serving fourth term in state House, chairman of Fisheries, Ecology and Parks Committee; firefighter for 23 years and currently Campaign Web site: www.mikecooper.org

Cooper, a firefighter and state legislator who chairs the House Fisheries, Ecology and Parks Committee, wants to certify Washington forests as "green" according to criteria preferred by environmentalists, and wants a permanent ban on logging old-growth trees. He is the beneficiary of a massive campaign contribution by the state's wealthiest environmental donor, and has a member of the Washington Environmental Council working on his campaign.

Stephan Layman, a Libertarian, is also on the ballot.

In a political year dominated by the race for a new governor and an unusually divisive presidential race, the contest to be Washington's next commissioner of public lands has largely hummed under the radar.

Still, the campaign between Sutherland and Cooper has been bitter, with significant contributions from outside interests, charges and counter-charges of campaign-finance indiscretions, and creative negative advertising that included the distribution of playing cards highlighting what one side dubbed the state's "52 ugliest clear-cuts."

Sutherland's record

Stephan Layman Party: Libertarian Age:57 Residence: Whidbey Island Education: B.A. in zoology, Central Washington State College (now Central Washington University) Work/political experience: Small-business owner; former president, Yakima chapter of National Audubon Society Campaign Web site: None

Overshadowed or not, it is a powerful job. The commissioner oversees the 1,400-person state Department of Natural Resources (DNR), manages 5 million acres of school-trust lands, regulates private-land timber harvest and manages nearly 2.5 million acres of riverbanks, lakeshores and tide flats.

The reach of the job stretches across the state, into a phalanx of thorny issues, with landowners concerned about overregulation, and environmentalists worried that existing rules don't protect some of the state's most ecologically rich public land. And, as is often the case, the race has centered almost exclusively on the incumbent's performance.

Sutherland, a former Pierce County executive and Tacoma mayor, casts himself as a moderate, willing to battle even like-minded conservatives.

Early in Sutherland's term, for example, Eastern Washington landowners were furious over a proposal requiring them to map and potentially upgrade private timber roads to improve conditions for salmon — a prospect that in some cases threatened to cost more than the value of the timber the roads accessed. Sutherland's first visit east did little to calm rural Washington.

"We had a rocky start with Doug Sutherland," said former Okanogan County Farm Bureau President Joel Kretz, a Republican and Sutherland supporter.

Kretz said that over time, Sutherland was more willing to listen. The rules are being recrafted.

Doug Sutherland Party: Republican Age: 67 Residence: Lacey Education: B.A. in history, Central Washington University Work/political experience: Elected commissioner of public lands in 2000. Former Tacoma mayor and Pierce County executive. Spent 11 years at Boeing before leaving to buy and run a small business. Campaign Web site: www.sutherland2004.org

Sutherland is proud that he managed to cut department staff, while still earning the endorsement of one of the two DNR employee unions.

He is helping the federal government hammer out an historic 50-year agreement that ultimately will allow private timber owners to avoid some strictures of the Endangered Species Act if they agree to follow strict rules designed to protect salmon.

He counts as his greatest achievement the complex task of crafting a 10-year logging plan for westside forests that he and his supporters maintain offers a balanced approach to timber harvest while protecting the environment. It increases cutting in the early years by roughly a third, but was unanimously approved by the state's forest-practices board. Money from the harvests will go to help fund hospitals, libraries and schools.

"We did tours, we met with environmental groups, the staff worked for hours and hours and a unanimous decision was proof that we struck a balance," Sutherland said.

A handful of moderate state Democrats support Sutherland, as well as the timber industry and forest landowners.

John Warjone, president of Blakely Tree Farms, said his company is one of several sawmill and timber companies that formed a special committee to indirectly support Sutherland's campaign. In addition to the $460,000 Sutherland has collected in direct contributions — much of it from the industry — Blakely alone contributed $40,000 to the special committee, which has raised another $333,000 since August. Weyerhaeuser committed more than $100,000.

"We want Doug where he is," Warjone said. "He's fair, and he's been fighting an uphill battle to get DNR organized."

"Fuzzy forestry" alleged

Cooper, and his supporters, counter that the industry's backing of Sutherland shows he is actually a radical who speaks of bringing sides together, but ultimately wants to do the timber industry's bidding.

They argue that Sutherland is putting at further risk Washington timber lands and wildlife areas already hammered by years of clear-cutting.

Environmentalists are suing Sutherland over his logging plan, arguing it would require more road-building, which could spark landslides and run silt into already-troubled streams.

The Sierra Club even produced a deck of cards designed to highlight Sutherland's unwillingness to adopt rules proposed by environmentalists that would limit unsightly clear-cuts near national parks, such as Mount Rainier.

"He's using fuzzy forestry," said Peter Goldman, an environmentalist who runs the Washington Forest Law Center. "The industry has hijacked these processes and found their moderate-sounding commissioner who just seems to listen to everybody. But it's phony."

Goldman, a wealthy donor to many Democratic causes, has made a special point of trying to oust Sutherland, ponying up roughly $290,000 in direct, party and special-committee contributions to help elect Cooper.

He argues it's time for the state to stop risking its treasured lands through logging to get a meager 6 to 8 percent of the school-construction budget.

"It's ludicrous to hit our forests this hard for so little money, but Doug Sutherland is not a progressive voice to reform the system," Goldman said.

Cooper: "a different way"

Cooper, meanwhile, wants to put together a commission to reconsider how schools are paid for, and is interested in investing more heavily in wind power on state lands. In the meantime, he maintains he can have a more-sustainable, long-term plan for logging by focusing on forest thinning rather than clear-cuts, though he can't yet detail precisely how.

"Doug's spent 3-1/2 years planning to increase timber harvest rather than looking for a new vision," Cooper said. "I believe the board's decision was unanimous because the choices they were given ranged from bad to worse. I think we can do things a different way."

Cooper also complained that Sutherland has been unable — or unwilling — to resolve a stalemate outside Bellingham over logging above Lake Whatcom, the city's drinking-water source. His supporters accuse Sutherland of trying to force the region to buy state land if they want the watershed protected.

"It doesn't really make sense that they should have to pay the state to not pollute the drinking water," said Mitch Friedman, director of the Bellingham-based Northwest Ecosystem Alliance.

The Sutherland campaign, however, maintains that the dispute is politically motivated.

While Cooper's support is largely partisan, he points out that the Democrats who support Sutherland are typically quite conservative. Cooper also has the support of another DNR employees' union.

Craig Welch: 206-464-2093

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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