Editorial Page staff
The Seattle Times
Despite a sometimes stormy first term as state lands commissioner, Jennifer Belcher has proved herself a savvy and energetic leader worthy of re-election.
As the elected commissioner, Belcher is responsible for managing five million acres of state-owned forests, grazing lands, recreation areas and tidelands. Much of that enormous public legacy is dedicated by law to permanent trusts that generate money for public schools, colleges and universities.
Trust beneficiaries argue that the state is not generating enough revenue, that Belcher is a card-carrying environmentalist who is too willing to preserve forests at the expense of education. Most of the critics have rallied behind Bruce Mackey, a well-qualified resource economist and Republican challenger to Belcher.
Belcher, however, makes a strong case for her management of state lands. The department was forced to reduce its harvests while it prepared a long-term habitat conservation plan (HCP), required by federal law. Since then, harvests have returned to about 75 percent of historic levels.
Whether harvests can be increased without jeopardizing environmental quality is an open question. Who decides? That's what this election is really about.
Unlike Mackey, Belcher has no academic background in economics or forestry. But she has important credentials Mackey does not: a wealth of political experience, including tenure in the state Legislature. Weighing environmental quality and wildlife against public education is no job for economists or biologists. It is the job of politicians -- in the best sense of the term -- to weigh one legitimate public objective against another.
Choosing between healthy forests and fully funded schools presents state taxpayers with an impossible dilemma. We insist on both. Striking that delicate, ever-changing balance is an assignment best given to a seasoned official who understands and follows the law, solicits and listens to the best advice available, and strives to make day-to-day decisions in the public interest.
Wise management of a priceless state legacy is best left to a skilled politician who can balance competing interests for long-term public benefit. Belcher has shown she is up to that daunting task.
