Donors Raise $563,000 to Protect 29 Acres of Washington’s Olympic Rainforest

More than 7,500 people contributed to a grassroots campaign that raised $563,000 to prevent logging on 29 acres of the Doc Holliday timber sale on Washington's Northern Olympic Peninsula. The Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition negotiated directly with Webster Logging, which had purchased the sale from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, to relinquish harvest rights on selected parcels if the coalition covered timber value, logging costs and required fees.

How the Deal Worked

Webster Logging had signed a $620,000 contract for the Doc Holliday sale in 2024. Under the agreement the coalition arranged, the buyer would surrender harvest rights on chosen sections of the tract when reimbursed for the appraised timber value plus removal costs and state fees. Ultimately, 29 of the sale's 74 acres were spared.

Fundraising Timeline

The coalition first raised $32,000 in May to save 2 acres near the Sadie Creek Campground — the first nonprofit-to-buyer conservation agreement of this kind in Washington. An August campaign raised $260,000 to protect 13 more acres. Two major gifts closed the final funding gap: $75,000 from the Holdfast Collective (the nonprofit linked to Patagonia) and $72,000 from an anonymous donor. By mid-September the coalition had reached the target to protect the remaining parcels it was pursuing.

Why It Matters

The protected parcels include rare stands of coastal temperate rainforest that supporters describe as an ecological sanctuary. Intact forest patches help preserve biodiversity, protect recreation spaces, and sustain landscapes valued by local communities and tourism.

“Everyone is made whole. Why would we be losing these incredibly valuable forests when we have a number of alternatives and a demonstrated interest by the public in protecting them?” — Elizabeth Dunne, Earth Law Center, who helped negotiate the agreement.

Policy Context And Next Steps

The campaign took place amid a broader policy debate in Washington over how older forests on state lands should be managed. Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove has supported conserving older stands and, while in office, designated roughly 77,000 acres of state forestland for conservation. However, this citizen-led purchase approach does not formally involve the Department of Natural Resources, and remaining portions of the Doc Holliday sale could still be harvested or resold.

Officials and lawmakers have other tools to protect forestland at scale, including designating parcels as natural areas, creating conservation leases, or enacting state measures to replace county revenue otherwise generated by timber sales. A Department of Natural Resources spokesperson said such ideas remain under review.

“Maybe this is just the beginning of work that we could do on the peninsula. We made a pretty fast decision to jump in,” said Greg Curtis, executive director of the Holdfast Collective.

Related Conservation Efforts

• Conservation groups and Wagner Forest Management protected about 78,000 acres of wildlife habitat along the Appalachian corridor in Maine.
• The U.S. Forest Service launched a $265 million initiative to preserve over a quarter-million forest acres nationwide.
• A family in Erie County, Pennsylvania chose to leave nearly 250 acres of old-growth forest undisturbed.

The Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition case illustrates a community-driven model for protecting sensitive forest stands while addressing the financial interests tied to state timber sales.