Grassroots Crowdfunding Saves Washington Forest

Last year on the spring equinox, Eleana Pawl visited a lush coastal forest on the northern edge of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Despite living in Washington for some time, it was her first time visiting this particular place in the verdant Twin Rivers Watershed. She was hooked, to say the least. “Everything was green, draped in moss and ferns,” Pawl said. “In that moment, I knew I couldn’t let this special place go.”

In addition to being stunning, the state forestland was also slated to be logged. Several months earlier, the state had auctioned off rights to harvest the tract with its century-old trees in the whimsically named Doc Holliday timber sale. Webster Logging, a Poulsbo, Washington–based company, placed the only bid.

Environmental groups and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe members, who opposed logging the area, had organized an equinox ceremony to draw attention to what was at risk, bringing Pawl and others to see the forest in person. For Pawl, a self-described “evangelist for ecology,” the stakes were clear.

“I’ve always loved trees,” Pawl said. “They were my solace growing up.”

Pawl first joined the campaign to save the Twin Rivers forest earlier last year, when she heard about the work of a grassroots coalition called Elwha Legacy Forests. Though it was too late to stop the Doc Holliday sale, the coalition still hoped to find a way to save the affected area from being clearcut. Pawl, a member of the Catholic Laudato Si’ Movement (a part of a network of Catholics who hope to address environmental issues, such as climate change) at St. Joseph Parish in Seattle, enlisted her congregation to help circulate petitions.

Environmental groups had limited options to stop logging, though, and by spring 2026, Webster Logging was preparing to bring in bulldozers. Around this time, Pawl heard a reference to the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe on the radio. “I thought, ‘What if we could raise money to save this forest?’” Pawl said.

She took her idea to Elizabeth Dunne, an attorney at the Earth Law Center. Together, they hatched an audacious plan to save at least some of the forest by buying out Webster Logging. Dunne drew up papers and reached out to the company’s owner, Bruce Webster. To his credit, Webster listened.

“He was really willing to figure out a way to work with us,” Dunne said. “It turned out there was an appreciation for the forest that we shared.”

Dunne and Webster reached an agreement: If environmental groups could raise $32,000, they could buy out Unit 1 of the timber sale, a two-acre parcel near a popular recreation area called Sadie Creek Campground. The catch? They had only three days to find the money.

“Everybody’s eyes kind of popped at that,” Pawl said. “But we got busy.”

Logged area of Doc Holliday sale. | Photo by Scott F. McGee

Saving a legacy forest

Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, home to Olympic National Park, is well-treaded ground when it comes to conflicts over logging. For decades, environmental groups fought to protect old growth on state and federal lands outside the national park. The Twin Rivers forest campaign was different, however.

The forest at Twin Rivers isn’t old growth, but it is considered legacy forest—a forest logged in the early 20th century that regenerated naturally, giving rise to a diversity of trees and a complex canopy structure. As most of the Olympic Peninsula’s remaining old growth has been either logged or protected, conservation groups’ attention has shifted to these younger, ecologically valuable stands.

Legacy forests like the one at Twin Rivers aren’t ancient enough to be old growth, defined in western Washington as trees dating back to the mid-1800s. However, they have begun displaying some old-growth characteristics. They provide valuable wildlife habitat, store vast quantities of carbon, and could attain old-growth status well within the lifetimes of people alive today. Unfortunately, their big trees also represent a bonanza for the timber industry.

“We’re losing the last of these forests,” said Tashena Francis, a member of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, who harvests forest materials to practice cultural traditions. “We’re running out of places to gather medicinal plants or cedar bark.”

Once a forest is auctioned off for logging, saving it is an uphill battle. Attempting to buy out a timber company was an innovative strategy. Thanks to groups like Elwha Legacy Forests, advocates, including Pawl, Dunne, and Francis, had an existing base of support when they launched a GoFundMe to save the Sadie Creek acres. As donations approached critical mass, Webster Logging extended the deadline slightly to allow the campaign to make its goal.

“We managed to raise the money in four days flat,” Pawl said.

In May of this year, the parties held a signing ceremony, removing the immediate threat to Sadie Creek. The celebration was short-lived, however. Over 40 acres of legacy forest in the Twin Rivers Watershed remained on the chopping block. That summer, machinery began felling trees in another unit.

Inspired by their success with the Sadie Creek campaign, Elwha Legacy Forests launched a new GoFundMe to preserve as many trees as possible. Dunne brokered another deal with Webster Logging to save one acre for every $20,000 they raised.

In the weeks that followed, Pawl hung flyers around Seattle neighborhoods, Dunne reached out to contacts on the peninsula, and Francis talked to tribal members. Bill Bryant, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate, even penned a Seattle Times op-ed supporting the Twin Rivers fundraiser.

A major boost to the GoFundMe came when Patagonia’s Holdfast Collective donated $75,000. By mid-September, activists had over $560,000. It was enough to stop logging in the remainder of the still-standing forest—nearly 30 acres.

“Every dollar we raised was a vote for saving this rare coastal forest ecosystem,” Dunne said. “It shows just how important this is to people.”

Webster Logging's Bruce Webster, Bill Bryant, Elizabeth Dunne, and members of Elwha Legacy Forests. | Photo by Elizabeth Dunne

A catalyst for conservation

The embattled Twin Rivers forest is saved from further logging—at least for now—but dozens of other Washington legacy forests aren’t so lucky. Like many Western states, Washington governs state lands under laws dating to the late 1800s, which prioritize extraction over conservation. Paying to stop logging in a particular area represents a creative strategy for conserving forestland. But bigger, structural change is ultimately needed, warn forest advocates.

“I’m very happy for this forest and the people who raised money to save it,” said Joshua Wright, program director for the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition. “But this story doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy. It’s an indictment of the entire system governing state lands that it was necessary.”

Exactly what happens next with the forest at Twin Rivers is uncertain. Washington lacks a clear process for transferring logging rights to a conservation group, and while Dunne tried to include the state Department of Natural Resources in early discussions with Webster Logging, the urgency of the situation necessitated moving ahead without them.

Now, Elwha Legacy Forests’ goal is to make sure this forest stays protected, and a parallel process moving forward at the state level may provide the path forward. Washington public lands commissioner Dave Upthegrove, who was elected on a platform of protecting legacy forests, recently announced plans to launch a process for creating conservation easements on state lands. If approved by Washington’s Board of Natural Resources, it would establish a way for environmental groups to pay to protect tracts of land, essentially what advocates want to do at Twin Rivers.

The easement program could also provide a clear template for efforts that seek to replicate the crowdfunding campaign’s success elsewhere. “It’s exciting to see this become a catalyst for thinking about new ways we can protect our forestlands,” Dunne said.

For now, century-old trees that could have been reduced to logs in the Twin Rivers Watershed are instead safe from felling thanks to the activists’ viral GoFundMe. “It still knocks me out that it worked,” Pawl said. “We don’t know exactly what comes next, but we stopped the logging.”