By Associated Press - Wednesday, September 2, 2020

GOLD BAR, Wash. (AP) - Snohomish County has 90 days to stop a contested 160-acre timber harvest next to Wallace Falls State Park.

The Everett Daily Herald reports the state Board of Natural Resources voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the Middle May timber sale, but Commissioner Hilary Franz delayed the harvest’s auction from October to late November after nearly two hours of divisive public comment about the sale.

Last month, a group called Sky Valley Future requested that the county reconvey 5,300 acres in the Reiter Foothills from the Department of Natural Resources and turn it in to a county park.

Snohomish County owns the land, but the DNR manages it. Reconveying it would mean the county takes back control of the forest.

The proposed area, called Wild Wallace, encompasses the Middle May harvest area.

On Tuesday, those in support of Middle May bemoaned further delays. The forest east of Wallace Falls has been slated for harvest for years.

Tension over the Reiter Foothills Forest peaked with the Singletary harvest in 2017, when three environmental groups sued to stop the logging.

The logging could net about $1.7 million for the county and junior taxing districts, including local school districts, fire departments and libraries. The Sultan School District is one of the largest beneficiaries.

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