The bill creates two new temporary statutory sections directing the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) to conduct a detailed review of the county forest board trust lands (referred to in the act as "state forestlands") and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources’ role as trust manager. JLARC must consult a third party with relevant legal expertise and examine: the 1935 trust structure and common law trust principles; trust and DNR performance including, by county, timber volumes offered for sale and timber volumes not offered for sale over the past three decades pursuant to sustainable harvest calculations; and structures and parameters of comparable trusts, including use of ascertainable standards and transparency and performance measures. JLARC must analyze findings, develop recommendations for adjustments to the trust structure or parameters to ensure adherence to the original exchange conditions and fundamental trust concepts, and submit its findings and recommendations to the appropriate legislative committees by December 31, 2027. Both new sections expire June 30, 2028. This is a procedural oversight and review requirement, not a new criminal offense or a penalty change; it directs an audit, consultation, analysis, and reporting process. Affected entities identified in the text include JLARC, DNR, the 21 counties that deeded tax-foreclosed timberlands (beneficiaries), the historical state forest board, and unspecified legislative committees, plus a third-party legal consultant. The text does not list the 21 counties or the specific parcels or acreage, does not provide statutory funding or staffing for JLARC’s work, does not define the third-party consultant or the “appropriate” legislative committees, and does not include the underlying sustainable harvest calculations or the full texts of the historical laws and court decision it cites.

The act makes the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) do a focused audit of how the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has managed the county forest board trust lands, including a county-by-county look at timber volumes actually offered for sale versus volumes withheld over the last 30 years under the sustainable harvest calculations, and a comparison to how other trusts are set up. Practically, that means DNR will face detailed scrutiny of its management records and practices, and JLARC will produce recommendations by December 31, 2027 that could prompt changes to how timber is offered, how trust rules are interpreted, and how revenues flow to the 21 beneficiary counties. Most directly affected are JLARC (which must staff the review and hire or consult a legal expert), DNR (which must provide data and could see its management approach questioned or altered), and the 21 counties that deeded lands to the state (whose future revenues or land-use options could be changed if recommendations are adopted). The bill does not provide funding, name the outside expert, or identify which legislative committees will receive the report, so the scope, timing, and cost of the work and any follow-on changes are uncertain; the review authority itself is temporary and expires June 30, 2028.