OCA comments on proposed forest-stream buffer rule

Rule change has been 20+ years in the making

The OCA Board of Directors has sent letters of support to both the WA Depts of Natural Resources (DNR) and Ecology, in favor of the proposed greater protections around upper-watershed streams. Here is an excerpt of our letter to Ecology:

We can always say there’s a need for more study or that a rule is too broad and ignores site-specific conditions. But if we remain paralyzed by our uncertainties, the degrading resource does not wait for us to make up our minds. . . . In a time of accelerating climate change where we seem destined to overshoot even moderately-protective emissions targets, incremental protections such as this proposed rule may make all the difference for ecosystems and species already under stress, including our own.

Read the entire letter here. You can submit your own comments through 8/18/25 here.