2026-04-22 State Trust landsSpecial meeting – State Trust Lands Update
April 22, 2026
11 a.m.
Present: Commissioner Brummer, Commissioner Swope, County Manager Ryan Barrett, Becky Butler,
Wes Anderson, Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Pacific Cascade Region Manager
Scott Sargent, DNR Pacific Cascade Assistant Region Manager Steve Ogden, DNR State Lands Lewis
District Manager Andy Aschenbrenner, DNR South Puget Sound Manager Brandon Mohler, DNR Rainier
District Manager Mike Fowler
Guest(s): Fire Chief Kevin Anderson, Pe Ell School District representative, Adna School District
representative, Jacob Moore, Otto Rabe
Recorder: Rieva Lester
Public comment: None.
Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Pacific Cascade Region Manager Scott Sargent,
Pacific Cascade Assistant Region Manager Steve Ogden, State Lands Lewis District Manager Andy
Aschenbrenner, South Puget Sound Manager Brandon Mohler and Rainier District Manager Mike Fowler
provided a presentation regarding DNR’s management of State Trust Lands.
They noted the following:
• None of them have seen a spotted owl within Lewis County.
• DNR serves as trust manager for State Trust Lands, and the state is the trustee.
• Lewis County and its junior taxing districts are the trust beneficiaries of roughly 43,073 acres of
state forestlands.
• Among its many obligations, DNR has legal fiduciary responsibilities to generate revenue and
other benefits for each trust and act impartially with respect to current and future beneficiaries.
• State forest lands are broken into two categories:
o State Forest Transfer Lands, which include foreclosed private lands within counties that
are transferred to state ownership.
o State Forest Purchase Lands, which include private land purchased and owned by the
state.
• Lewis County includes roughly 93,000 acres of DNR-managed land.
• First-quarter 2026 disbursements will be available soon.
The commissioners noted that the state is at a 22-year low for trust land timber sales.
Meeting adjourned at 12:03 p.m.