Across Washington's timber country, rural school districts are scrambling to plug holes in their budgets after a steep drop in timber-derived revenue left classrooms leaner and payrolls slashed. Mount Baker School District, serving communities in the North Cascades foothills, says it is staring at a budget gap of more than $1 million and has already cut roughly 30 positions. Sedro-Woolley and other districts report double-digit job losses of their own. In Eatonville, leaders had been counting on proceeds from a Railroad Creek timber sale to cover borrowing costs, but the timing and flow of that cash remain up in the air.
State policy shifts at the Department of Natural Resources helped accelerate the shortfall. The agency says it paused about 23 planned timber sales to reassess harvesting of structurally complex mature forests, and that pause has delayed receipts for local beneficiaries. Eight months later the lands commissioner announced plans to set aside roughly 77,000 acres of older forest, a move conservation groups praised and timber interests warned would reduce near-term revenue. Local officials argue that the timing of those decisions, not just normal market swings, is squeezing districts that had already budgeted for timber receipts.
Timing is everything, and in this case it is brutal. Schools get paid when trees are actually removed, not when timber sales are auctioned, and buyers can take up to three years to harvest. That lag makes revenue highly unpredictable, as reported by OPB. DNR timber sales that totaled about $186 million in 2022 fell to roughly $134 million last year, shrinking the pool of money that flows back to counties and local school districts. After DNR keeps roughly 25 percent of sale profits for its own program costs, the remaining dollars are split among counties, school districts and other trust beneficiaries, so swings in markets and policy can very quickly translate into layoffs and program cuts.
Mount Baker, Sedro-Woolley and Eatonville
Mount Baker School District was placed under binding conditions in 2023 after what officials described as a precipitous drop in timber revenue. Board president Russ Pfeiffer-Hoyt told reporters the district lost about $1 million a year, forcing staff cuts and larger class sizes, as reported by The Seattle Times. Sedro-Woolley officials say the district has lost more than 20 positions as state-forest receipts fell from multimillion-dollar peaks to roughly $150,000 last school year. Eatonville had banked on the Railroad Creek sale to help cover interest on borrowing, but the sale's pause and delayed harvest left local leaders scrambling to cover immediate bills.
How Washington Got Here
For decades Washington managed trust lands with the goal of generating revenue for schools, but policy changes have turned those timber dollars into more of a budget supplement than a steady stream. The Washington Association of School Administrators notes that a 2018 OSPI rule change let districts retain state forest revenues without having those dollars deducted from their regular apportionment, which increased districts' exposure to timber-market volatility (WASA). "Cutting down trees to pay for schools is an 'outdated approach,'" state Superintendent Chris Reykdal told The Seattle Times.
What’s Next for Districts
The Department of Natural Resources says it hopes to replace some of the lost income through thinning projects, selective cuts and selling carbon credits, but those new revenue streams are likely to be smaller and slower to arrive, according to reporting by KUOW. Commissioner Upthegrove has defended the moves as necessary to protect mature forests while the agency develops new programs, and lawmakers are weighing measures that could stabilize funding for rural districts. School leaders warn that even if Olympia acts, legislative fixes will take time, and more cuts could land before any fresh money shows up.
District officials say they need a financial bridge while policy changes take hold and are calling on state leaders for emergency relief or a temporary budget patch to stop further layoffs. For background and additional context on local districts' losses and the DNR decisions, see reporting by OPB.
