Legacy Forest Defense Coalition

The Legacy Forest Defense Coalition is a leading grassroots forestry watchdog in the Pacific Northwest.

The Legacy Forest Defense Coalition was founded to draw public attention to the destruction of our publicly owned legacy forests, and build support for their conservation, through research, education, litigation, and advocacy. Since 2023 LFDC has protected thousands of acres of native forests.

Top Campaigns include:

Tiger Mountain

Located on the ancestral lands of the Snoqualmie Tribe in King County, Tiger Mountain State Forest is a crown jewel of King County—home to one of the largest unprotected legacy forests in the Southern Cascade lowland ecoregion. These productive, temperate forests store more carbon per acre than any other ecosystem in North America, provide vital habitat for wildlife, and hold deep cultural significance for the Snoqualmie Tribe. Every year, more than a million people visit Tiger Mountain to hike, horseback ride, mountain bike, and hang glide—making it one of the most popular recreational areas in the state.

There are currently nine timber sales targeting legacy forest that DNR plans to clearcut in Tiger Mountain State Forest over the next 6 years. Collectively these sales would convert 914 acres of mature, biologically diverse, native forest to tree farms.

Nearly 60% of Tiger Mountain’s lands were deeded by King County to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and are managed by DNR on behalf of the county. Tiger Mountain State Forest is also located on usual and accustomed lands of the Snoqualmie Tribe. Yet DNR does not consult King County officials or tribal governments when planning timber sales in Tiger Mountain State Forest. It is time that changed. 

We’re advocating for a collaborative management model that integrates ecological forestry, cultural values, carbon sequestration, sustainable recreation, and modest revenue generation. This vision aims to move beyond temporary conservation wins toward permanent protections—positioning Tiger Mountain as a statewide model for 21st-century forest stewardship.

Rainshadow Forests

The Olympic rainshadow represents a rare intersection of climatic moderation, geological diversity, and ecological richness. Unlike the moss-draped rainforests of the western Olympics, the eastern slopes and adjacent lowlands host drier, more fire-adapted forests with unique assemblages of flora. These conditions support niche forest communities that are vanishingly rare on a global scale. Their conservation is not just a local concern—it’s a global imperative.

 Historically the Department of Natural Resources has auctioned forests in this region, without first assessing whether these forests contain rare or endangered ecosystems. We are working to change that.

 Since 2006, DNR’s Policy for Sustainable Forests has obligated the agency to protect “element occurrences” (EOs)—sites where rare plants or rare plant communities are found. However, the agency’s Natural Heritage Program (WNHP) lacks the funding and staffing to reliably identify these occurrences before authorizing timber sales. The result: rare ecosystems are logged before their ecological significance is ever known.

 Over the past two years, LFDC has visited nearly 200 planned timber sales across Western Washington, these surveys have uncovered nearly a dozen previously undocumented EOs, all of them in the Olympic Rainshadow. When reported, these discoveries trigger mandatory site visits by DNR staff. In many cases, WNHP has verified LFDC’s findings, forcing DNR to cancel or modify sales and protect ecologically sensitive forests.