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Help us raise $32k to stop the clearcut of Sadie Creek Legacy Forests!
This campaign is supported by Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition- a local and volunteer grassroots coalition of people and non-profit organizations, inspired by protecting the Elwha Watershed and legacy forests on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.
The Sadie Creek legacy forests border the popular Sadie Creek Campground – tucked off of scenic byway 112 on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. The forests protect the banks above Sadie Creek – a salmon-bearing stream - and place of significant purpose to the families and Peoples of the House of kwa?šánəm.
In 2024, the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) sold the rights to clear-cut log Sadie Creek legacy forests to a logging company as part of the “Doc Holliday” timber sale. The Elwha Legacy Forests coalition has worked alongside Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal citizens and elders to share about the cultural, biological, and recreational value of these forests in hopes of saving them from clearcut logging.
We now have the incredible opportunity to buy back 2 lush acres from the logging company for just $32,000 – the first and critical step toward protecting them for generations to come!
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal citizen Anthony Fernandes, founder of the non-profit Hiyitixw, has shared: “What is now called Sadie Creek served significant purpose to the families and Peoples of the House of kwa?šánəm. Families from cíxəŋwould also gather foods, medicines, and ceremonial items up and down the waterway… Sadie Creek or Doc Holiday is such an important cultural space for us historically and contemporarily that it feels and appears as if this sale is just a purposeful continuation of colonization and genocide. There are medicines that can heal many of the ailments that we are faced with physically and mentally.”
Learn more:
- Watch the 8-minute Voices of Sadie Creek video by award-winning filmmaker John Gussman of Doubleclick Productions
- Hundreds of Tribal citizens and allies sent Washington Commissioner of Public Lands, Dave Upthegrove, a letter asking that he protect this forest: “The forest is a sacred source of life, which stores knowledge and tradition passed down through generations. We are reminded of how Sadie Creek provided our people with their first canoe, a testament to the enduring bond between the forest and the S’Klallam peoples way of life.” Read the full letter HERE.
- Read the Seattle Times story by reporter Lynda Mapes who visited the forest with elders to document their opposition.
- We continue to request that the DNR work with the community and logging company to save 30 acres of complex forest ecosystem, known as “Unit 5” of the “Doc Holiday” timber sale. See stunning photos from a community hike and take action HERE.
- Read the opinion piece by Bill Bryant, former Republican Governor Candidate, titled "This Puget Sound forest should be saved. There are better ways to log."
*If we do not receive all of the funds that are needed to buy out the logging company and reimburse the DNR for the permit, we will return all of the donations to the donors.*