Managing State Trust Lands for Ecosystem Health: The Case of Washington State's Range and Agricultural Lands

Abstract

A persistent contemporary issue in the field of state trust lands management is reconciliation of the trust duty to manage lands to generate revenues for trust beneficiaries with the sometimes competing goal of managing lands for ecological health and sustainable use. This article offers a description of the management history and strategies for state-owned range and farm lands in Washington State. It focuses on recently adopted land management policies intended to restore ecosystem health and wildlife habitat on the 1.2 million acres of range and agricultural trust lands in the upland interior of the state’s Columbia Plain. The article explores and offers commentary on the importance of scientifically sound ecosystem standards and the development of effective working relationships with those who lease and use state range and agricultural lands for producing a regime that will conserve and restore ecosystem health on state trust lands.

Keywords: natural resources, public lands, agriculture, environment