HERALD ENDORSEMENT Goldmark offers unique skills to public lands post

By most measurements, Doug Sutherland has had a successful eight years as the state's public lands commissioner.

His management of 5.6 million acres of public land has resulted in the protection of old-growth forests, the opening of more than 1,000 miles of forest streams for salmon habitat, and working forests are producing jobs and revenue for schools, universities and counties. He streamlined and stabilized an office that needed it when he took over in 2001, and on his watch, state lands have received "green certification."

Against most challengers, we'd recommend voters elect Sutherland to a third term. This year, though, Okanogan rancher and scientist Peter Goldmark offers a rare opportunity to bring a fresh, hands-on perspective to land management that represents improvement, even over the capable Sutherland. In a close call, our nod goes to Goldmark.

Goldmark's background seems tailor-made for this office. He's been a rancher and wheat breeder for years -- pertinent because the Department of Natural Resources, which the lands commissioner leads, leases many acres of state trust lands for farming. Goldmark, who holds a doctorate in molecular biology, knows farming intimately. He also served a short stint as the state's agriculture secretary in the 1990s, so he's had experience leading an agency.

Goldmark, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for Congress two years ago, also served on the Washington State University board of regents for a decade, and is familiar with cutting-edge agricultural research there. He's an enthusiastic promoter of renewable energy, and says that under his leadership the department would be more aggressive in using state lands to generate wind and geothermal power.

Goldmark's charge that Sutherland, a Republican, is too beholden to timber companies and other corporate interests who have contributed to his campaign doesn't wash with us because Sutherland has demonstrated a willingness and ability to be even-handed in land-use decisions.

Our reason for endorsing Goldmark is the perspective he'd bring to the department -- a practical, conservationist approach that aims to maximize sustainability and state revenue, and to break new ground in clean energy production and the protection of lowland areas from questionable logging practices.

© 2008The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA