Two former state officials’ recent proposal to discontinue timber harvests on trust lands managed by the Department of Natural Resources would be bold, ambitious and a game-changer.

It would also be a disaster — not just for our post-pandemic economy but for our efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

I don’t say this lightly. As chair of the Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks Committee, as a member of the Senate Ways & Means Committee that writes our state’s budgets, and as a longtime representative of the 24th District who has helped shape sensible timber policies for years, I believe the fallout that would result from decreeing our trust lands off limits cannot be overstated.