It's a question that's been asked over and over since March 22, 2014. How do we prevent future landslides like the one that took 43 lives in Oso? A lawsuit filed on Friday say the state is going about it all wrong.
The Seattle-based watchdog group known as the Washington Forest Law Center is representing a geologist and several Whatcom County homeowners who are suing the state's Forest Practices Board.
The suit accused the Forest Practices Board of failing to protect the public when it comes to logging activity on potentially unstable slopes.
"We deserve better than this," said Peter Goldman, who is the director of the Washington Forest Law Center.
The issue, Goldman says, is a new logging manual approved by the Forest Practices Board in May. He says the manual is supposed to govern whether logging can take place on or near potentially unstable slopes.
"What we have before us is a manual that's just not protective," he said. "Not protective enough."
Goldman calls the manual "watered down" at best. He says it falls far short of protecting the public from future landslides.
"The manual is extremely important," he said. "If something is not in the manual, DNR doesn't have to look at it. If something is in the manual, DNR does have to look at it. But this one doesn't look in the right places, it doesn't ask the right questions, and it excludes places that are potentially unstable."
The group of Whatcom County homeowners who are suing traveled to Olympia last November, to try to convince the Forest Practices Board to put tougher restrictions in place that regulate timber companies. The homeowners are worried that logging or clear-cutting the steep piece of lands that sits above their houses could cause another devastating slide.
The homeowners feel their pleas last fall fell on deaf ears, and that's why they're suing.
Geologist Paul Kennard, who currently works at Mount Rainier National Park, agrees. He has joined in on the lawsuit as a plaintiff.
According to court documents, Kennard called the current logging manual "deficient" and said it "facilitates the approval of forest practices that pose an unacceptably high risk to public safety and the environment".
"Mr Kennard, at great personal cost, has chosen to step up and say enough is enough," said Goldman.
The people suing don't want money, they want the Forest Practices Board Manual to be rewritten. Currently, they feel the state is putting timber profits over public safety.
"We hope this lawsuit prompts everyone to come back to the table and put aside industry interests and adopt a manual that is as protective as possible under best available science," said Goldman.
KING 5 reached out to the Forest Practices Board to get their reaction to the allegations, but because they were just served with papers on Friday morning, a spokesperson said he could not comment at this time.
