Where are carbon tax dollars going? WA touts new forest preserve as gas prices remain high for drivers

Washington's first forest managed exclusively for carbon sequestration

For months now, you've been shelling out more to fill up your car and heat your home. The controversial carbon tax has made it more expensive to live in Washington—but now, we're finding out where those dollars are going.

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Wash. - For months now, Washington taxpayers have been shelling out more to fill up the car and heat the house. The controversial carbon tax has made it more expensive to live in the Evergreen State.

On Tuesday, Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz offered a first look at where those dollars are flowing.

The Washington Legislature spent $10 million to acquire roughly 670 acres of forest around Dabob Bay. The investment is part of a $70 million plan to preserve 2,000 acres of Washington woodlands.

"We are losing trees at an unbelievable scale," said Franz. "We really see this as an area that must be protected and should be protected."

Peter Bahls, Executive Director of the Northwest Watershed Institute, says these forests are considered "globally imperiled." There are only a handful left in the Puget Sound region.

According to Bahls, this ecosystem shares common plants: Douglas fire, western hemlock, green huckleberry and rhododendron. Finding these four species together is rare. Bahls believes this is the largest occurrence of this specific plant community in the world.

Bahls argues that mature forests like this, with trees ranging in age and an established understory, significantly sequester carbon dioxide. Todd Meyers with the Washington Policy Center opposes the plan, contending that compared to old growth forests, active forests absorb more.

"Forests that grow, create habitat, but then are harvested before they stop decaying," Meyers explained. "Unfortunately, what Commissioner Franz is doing by locking up those forests and allowing them to decay is doing more climate harm than benefit."

Franz clarified that not all land acquired with carbon tax-generated dollars will solely be for preservation. The Public Lands Commissioner shared the state plans to invest in lands that can be logged as well.