Do you care for your woods?

By Dave New, Past Chair of the Washington Tree Farm Program, info@watreefarm.org

(Credit: Bob Obedzinski, Nancy Romanovsky, Tammie Perreault, and Corie Lopardi, Washington Tree Farm Program)

You own a piece of forest land in the Evergreen State, and you have a forest management plan. Are you ready to take the next step? Become one of the 1,400 land stewards in our state with an American Tree Farm System certification in the Washington Tree Farm Program for your family’s forest.

Tree farming began right here in Washington State in 1941, when the Weyerhaeuser Company dedicated the Clemens Tree Farm near Rochester to sustainable and renewable forestry. It evolved into the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), a nationwide certification program for small forest landowners who privately own between 10 and 10,000 acres of forestland. The ATFS certification is recognized by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, an international body.

The Washington Tree Farm Program (WTFP) is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and assisting small forest landowners in our state, to be better stewards of the land. The voluntary certification program ensures healthy privately-owned forestlands contribute to our state’s clean water, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities, while producing the jobs, wood, and timber products we all need. 

WTFP has over 100 professional foresters who are trained to work with landowners to inspect and certify that their forests meet the standards of the ATFS system. Some of our inspectors are private foresters, some work for the Washington State DNR, others work for the US Forest Service, local conservation districts, or teach forestry.  All are a part of WTFP to help landowners do right by their land.

If you are committed to tending your woods for good forest health, you are one of us.  If you want to provide good habitat for wildlife, you are one of us.  If you want to protect the lakes and streams on your property and provide good aquatic habitat, you are one of us.  If you want to provide recreational opportunities, you are one of us. If you want to create or continue a legacy that can be passed down to future generations, you are one of us.

Visit our website. Contact us. We will arrange to have one of our forester inspectors walk through your woods with you. They will be able to answer your forest management questions, help you better prepare for the future, and assist you in obtaining ATFS certification. Perhaps you have questions about invasive species, or root rot in a Douglas fir stand, or who you should contact for assistance with thinning or harvesting. WTFP does not charge for these visits, nor for certification, nor are there any dues to be paid. And then in five years, when it is time for a reinspection, one of them will walk through your woods with you again.

We recognize that we all have different visions for our own forest lands, and that our management methods and objectives are not the same. We all, however, want to be the best stewards that we can for our land. Join us, become a part of the ATFS network, put a green “Certified Family Forest” sign in front of your land, and stand behind it with pride.

Dave New is the Past Chair of the Washington Tree Farm Program, and a proud steward of Nourse Tree Farm in Snohomish County.

Photos by Bob Obedzinski, Nancy Romanovsky, Tammie Perreault, and Corie Lopardi, all courtesy of Washington Tree Farm Program.

21st Century Construction Means Housing People – and Carbon

By Jeff Gersh, Communications, Washington State Forest Carbon Work Group, jeff@narrativelab.com

“We’re disrupting the building industry and moving to a bio-based economy.”

–Susan Jones, Architect, atelierjones

Before she became a global pioneer in the design of wooden buildings, Seattle architect Susan Jones was a forest nymph. As a seventh grader, she walked a mile-long path of trees to school each day.

“It sounds like a cliché, but seeing the light filter through that canopy of green and how it changed with weather and time was pretty extraordinary for me,” she said.

Her curiosity about construction arrived early. At age five, Susan watched from a homemade cedar swing as her parents built a wood house in Bellingham, Washington. “I was wonder-eyed about the whole thing,” she recalled.

During a field trip with her grandfather to a newly purchased 160 acres on Orcas Island, she strolled with him among freshly planted white pine and fir no bigger than she was. “When you’re my age,” he told her back then, “all these trees will be ready to harvest.”

After a generation of inattention, it has become a place of discoveries.

“Our family forest opened the doors for me to understand the challenges of forest management, as well as the beauty and the regenerative aspects of that process,” said Susan. “And, it has enlarged and deepened my whole experience of building with mass timber.”

Susan Jones visiting her grandfather’s tree farm. (Credit: Susan Jones)

Mass timber, or engineered wood, is a family of precision-fabricated, load-bearing building materials including beams, columns, walls, floors, and roofs. Susan is especially intrigued with cross-laminated timber (CLT), a game-changing technology for construction. Made from dimensional lumber—like 2x4s—sandwiched together at right angles, these components can be delivered in mammoth sizes much like tilt-up concrete walls; 12 x 60 feet is not uncommon. Some people refer to them as “plywood on steroids.”

However, this is not your grandmother’s plywood.

“Wood, being a natural material, comes with variations; that’s what gives it character, but variations can introduce weak spots,” Susan said. “By combining and optimizing many small pieces together, mass timber offers lighter weight and great strength, comparable to concrete and steel—but without having to cut large trees.”

While CLT was invented in Europe and has been part of its building culture for decades, the product is relatively new in the U.S. Susan built her family’s home with cross laminated timber in 2015, followed by a string of commissions showcasing its possibilities.

“I used to joke that my firm, atelierjones, had more CLT projects than any other architect in the country,” she said.

At that time, the architecture and engineering professions were focused on saving “operational carbon” by installing triple-glazed windows, for example, or solar panels. “The question became how to lower embodied carbon by substituting for concrete and steel, the twin wonders of modernist architecture and of 20th century construction,” Susan said. (The “twins” are the source of over 20 percent of global CO2 emissions.)

For architects and builders, one of the biggest hurdles to progress was bureaucracy. Building codes in the U.S. prevented using mass timber in structures higher than six stories. Susan accepted an invitation from the American Institute of Architecture to join an ambitious, multi-year, pro-bono effort to rewrite the national building code. Many studies ensued, but one focus was on the obvious question of fire safety. It turns out, another attribute of mass timber is its stubborn resistance to burning. “We cracked the code and rewrote it,” Susan said. “Now, you can build up to 18 stories.”

From left to right – An interior view of an affordable housing building, called Heartwood, built with CLT. Exterior view of Heartwood building. (Credit: Susan Jones)

With this seismic advance, and the increasing availability of domestically manufactured mass timber, new wooden buildings are poised to provide an additional service in the form of climate mitigation. Compared to concrete, a wood superstructure uses about 40 percent less carbon, not including the carbon it stores. Additionally, the lifespan of these new structures is anticipated to rival the beloved old timber buildings drawing crowds from around the world to places like Seattle’s waterfront; that, in turn, boosts their economic valuation.

Atelierjones’ latest project, Heartwood, is an 8-story gem just minutes from the water, and one of the first affordable housing projects in the country built with CLT. Its 126 living spaces also house over one thousand metric tons of durable carbon. “It’s an important validation of the work we’re doing. I can’t wait to go replicate more.”

Susan Jones, Architect at Heartwood. (Credit: Susan Jones)

This profile is part of a series produced by the nonprofit Washington Farm Forestry Association (WFFA), which supports the stewardship of small family forest owners. The 218,000 small forest landowners in Washington account for about 15 percent of the state’s forests—nearly 3 million acres. Each year, these woodlands absorb an amount of CO2 equal to the tailpipe emissions from 875,000 passenger cars while also producing roughly 15 percent of the harvested wood products in the state.

In partnership with the Washington Tree Farm Program and the American Forest Foundation, WFFA is developing policy recommendations for the Washington legislature to encourage the voluntary participation of small family forest owners in markets that pay for storing carbon; and, in management techniques that improve carbon storage.

For more information, please contact Elaine Oneil, executive director of WFFA: eoneil@wafarmforestry.com.

Message from Tami Miketa, Manager of the Small Forest Landowner Office

Tami Miketa, Manager of the Small Forest Landowner Office

Welcome fall season! With the rich fall season upon us, it is a time of sensation in nature! As the leaves burst with color and give their grand finale, may we appreciate every attribute it brings and offers. To me, this is the season to be grateful. Gratitude is an emotion or feeling of being thankful for the good in our life. Do you ever feel the importance of gratitude in life? Studies suggests that gratitude helps people, “feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”

Let me give you a challenge. For five minutes think about three things that make you grateful. How many of you can count more than three blessings? In addition to being thankful for the beauty of nature, I am especially grateful for the additional resources we now have from the federal, state and local level for small forest landowner assistance.

Since last fall, we have been able to greatly expand DNR staff capacity and financial assistance to help you manage your forestlands for forest health, wildfire resilience, and resource protection. We integrated the Small Forest Landowner Service Program into a one-stop shop model, and DNR developed online resources such as the Landowner Assistance Portal website and Find Your Forester search tool.

In this newsletter, you will find a related article from our DNR Communications Manager Lauren Padgett with a link to a survey, so thank you for your comments and suggestions to help us improve those online tools. We also have been increasing outreach with the help and dedication of Small Forest Landowner Community Outreach and Environmental Education Specialist Holly Haley. Holly has been traveling all over the state to meet you and get the word out about small forest landowner programs, coordinating with DNR field staff and external forestry and education partners.

To expand the Forestry Riparian Easement Program (FREP), we just hired a new Forest Check Cruiser, Kellen Salseina. Kellen will cruise the FREP easements as well as the Rivers and Habitat Open Space Program easements. Get to know him in our employee spotlight article in this newsletter. In this edition, you will also read more about DNR’s Webster Forest Nursery, their expansion plans, and meet their new manager, Carlos Gantz.

This past year has seen growth other DNR forestry programs that have expanded our community footprint. You may have read in the recent edition of Forest Stewardship Notes, about the new DNR Post-Fire Recovery Program.

In this newsletter, you will hear about DNR also initiating a monitoring pilot program called the Wildfire Interaction with Treatments Survey, to help determine the effectiveness of forest health and fuels reduction projects. We also introduce DNR’s new Outdoor Education and Training Program Manager, Clare Sobetski, and the launch of the Youth Education and Outreach Program (YEOP) to facilitate place-based, career-connected, outdoor learning experiences and cultivate the next generation of natural resource professionals.

In addition, a feature on DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, highlights their significant increases in resources this biennium to provide expanded technical, educational and financial assistance to Washington’s cities and towns, counties, tribal governments, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions. The Washington Farm Forestry Association provided another small forest landowner profile, part of their continuing series for the Washington State Forest Carbon Workgroup, and Washington State University extension forestry’s Molly Darr shares an update on developing the Washington chapter of Women Owning Woodlands.

Finally, we share some articles from the field, with a story of DNR service foresters facilitating a workshop for local scouts to earn their forestry merit badge; an interview with a small forest landowner working with goats for vegetation management; and a feature from DNR Stewardship Wildlife Biologist all about wildlife habitat in projects aimed at fuels reduction.

As we reflect on the year in review, I hope this holiday season fills your heart with gratitude and love and provides opportunities to express those feelings with friends, family, and beyond.

Carbon Markets and Forest Management Incentives for Washington’s Small Family Forest Owners

Tucking in the last seedlings of the day, incense cedar and ponderosa pine. (Photo by Jeff Gersh)

Moments after planting, a Ponderosa pine seedling casts shade over its new Westside home. (Photo by Jeff Gersh)

By the Washington Farm Forestry Association (WFFA)

In 2023, the nonprofit Washington Farm Forestry Association (WFFA) is celebrating its 70th year supporting the stewardship of small family forest owners. This anniversary is especially significant as we partner on one of the most important projects in our history — to cultivate a viable future for the communities and ecosystems we care about.

Two years ago, the Washington state legislature passed the Climate Commitment Act (SB5126) establishing an incentive program to fund carbon reductions in Washington. The act recognizes that prevention of forest loss, changes to forest management practices, reforesting or afforesting areas without forest cover, and wise use of harvested wood products are all crucial in mitigating climate change.

The legislation calls for recommendations to encourage the voluntary participation of interested small forest owners in markets that pay for storing carbon; and, in management techniques that improve carbon storage — which in turn benefit forest health and fire hazard reduction.

WFFA was awarded a contract from the Department of Natural Resources in 2022 to develop these recommendations with a work group of small family forest owners and technical experts, and in partnership with the Washington Tree Farm Program and the American Forest Foundation. A final report is due to the legislature in June of 2024. Once implemented, this landmark effort will reward tree farmers who wish to receive payments in exchange for ecosystem services provided to the state, the region, and the world.

Work group responsibilities include:

• Understanding the needs—and possible barriers to participation—of Washington’s small woodland owners in additional carbon storage
• Evaluating existing and potential carbon markets
• Coordinating with managers of state and federal forests, which link to the larger forest ecosystem and economy
• Gathering substantive input from underserved community members as part of environmental justice considerations
• Developing cost-effective remote sensing tools to inventory carbon stocks
• Tracking carbon from the tree farm to the marketplace in order to quantify real outcomes created by carbon storage

The 218,000 small forest landowners in Washington account for 15% of the state’s forests—nearly 3 million acres—and produce roughly 15% of the harvested wood products in Washington. Success of WFFA’s comprehensive approach depends on listening closely to our small woodland owners across the state, and to all of those who care about the health of our forests, communities, and economy.

We are eager for your input, and there are numerous ways to participate—as advisers, through surveys and focus groups, and in creative conversations with members of our work group. Visit WA Carbon Workgroup | Washington Farm Forestry Association (wafarmforestry.com) for more information and please join our mailing list to stay informed about opportunities as the program develops. For additional information, reach out to Elaine Oneil, executive director of WFFA: eoneil@wafarmforestry.com.

The Instream Wood Bank Network Is Looking for Wood from Landowners in Southwest Washington

Large Wood Bank logs being loaded onto a truck by a self-loader in Kalama. (Photo by Cascade Forest Conservancy)

By Shiloh Halsey, Director of Programs, Cascade Forest Conservancy

Instream logs and woody debris in rivers and streams provide crucial habitat for salmon and steelhead species, help keep water temperatures low and can slow peak water flows.

Cascade Forest Conservancy’s (CFC) Instream Wood Bank Network is a non-profit initiative with the goal of sourcing wood for instream habitat restoration projects to help recover salmon and steelhead populations.

Small forest landowners can assist the wood bank by donating (or offering below market value for) logs that can be used as instream pieces to serve as habitat features for fish. Donated logs can be tax-deductible and landowners can know they are taking part in a region-wide effort to recover these iconic species.

The pieces most useful for instream work are conifers that are greater than 15 inches in diameter at breast height and at least 30 feet long (with 40-50 feet in length preferred). Rootwads attached to the logs are useful for fish habitat, but not necessary. CFC works directly with haulers and will handle all log transport logistics and costs. CFC generally needs at least a truckload-worth of logs to work out the pick-up and haul.

Also, if landowners have instream restoration needs on their own property, CFC can discuss opportunities to advance restoration on-site using wood that is already on the property.

Instream wood creating habitat for fish in the South Fork Toutle River watershed. (Photo by Cascade Forest Conservancy)

How does instream wood help salmon?

The anadromous life histories of salmon and steelhead make them particularly vulnerable to losses of habitat connectivity, a critical consideration in light of climate change. Strategic wood placement creates new habitats within a channel, and also serves as structure to slow peak flows and move water out of incised channels. This re-engages floodplains and side-channels and creates pools and refugia for a variety of organisms. Instream restoration can also help reduce water temperature, as water is redirected from simplified channels into floodplains and vegetated riparian areas that provide more shade. The pooling of water also helps reduce temperatures by increasing groundwater exchange. By slowing and diverting water flow, some streams and pools can persist later into the warm, dry season—providing refuge habitat for aquatic organisms and water resources for terrestrial species. While climate change threatens aquatic systems in multiple ways, instream wood is able to respond in-kind.

If you’d like to find out more about the Instream Wood Bank Network or if you have trees that might serve a role as instream habitat for fish, visit the Instream Wood Bank Network website where there is contact information for the program.

Hummingbirds – Colorful Miracles

A male Anna’s hummingbird. (Gregg Thompson.)

By Ken Bevis, Stewardship Wildlife Biologist, DNR, Ken.Bevis@dnr.wa.gov

“Humm, Humm, Hummingbird Humm

Humm, Hummm Humingbird Humm.

Iridescent sparks of life

Fly backwards to and fro

Tiny hearts race twelve hundred times

Miracles flying

Hot sparks of life”

From the song, Hummingbird Humm, by Ken Bevis. Guitar and vocals, Ken Bevis. Vocals, Julie Dubois, flute, Wayne Mendro. Copyright 2019.

Let’s get down to some serious wildlife wow. Hummingbirds are just way beyond amazing. We have all seen them zipping about, sipping flowers and feeders, shining in the sun with red, orange and green iridescent feathers. Beautiful. But how can such a creature exist?

They are the tiniest birds. They hover. Their active hearts race at up to 1,200 beats per minute, or 20 beats per second. They go into torpor at night and their body temperature plummets to 50 degrees (down from 107) and heart rates go down to one per second. They drink flower nectar and eat insects. They build tiny intricate nests of mosses, lichens, hair, fine grass and spider webs. Most migrate thousands of miles south to Central or even South America in the winter! What?

They are so unlikely, it was once believed that they went underground to hibernate in the winter (they don’t). But now we know different.

A Calliope hummingbird. (Joanie Christian)

I had the chance to help on a calliope hummingbird research project where we captured them using a net trap wrapped around a feeder. When several were there, a string was pulled and the net closed on the tiny birds. We reached in and gently wrapped our hands around them, placing them in small cloth bags for the bird banders to handle. I remember they fit in the palm of my hand and were incredibly flexible. Their wings went in all sorts of directions in the bags. It makes sense, as their wings travel in a rotating pattern (no, not going round and round!), that enables them to do incredible maneuvers, and even fly backwards, or upside down! The study determined that most of them migrated to a specific region in the mountains of central Mexico each winter! They somehow measured water isotopes found in the bodies of the little birds by way of taking one tiny feather from the tail, and comparing this to water from different regions. This is a distance of at least 3,000 miles, one way, from my home near Winthrop. Wow!

A male Rufous hummingbird. (Joanie Christian)

We have four hummingbird species in Washington; two on the west side, and two on the east.

First, the feisty rufous hummingbirds are the most widespread, occurring statewide, with an orangey cast to their feathers. The males sport a flashing orange throat patch as they zoom high in the air to impress the females, and swoop after anyone who dares come into his territory.

Second, calliope hummingbirds are the smallest bird in North America, weighing about the same as a penny (or a ping pong ball) and zip between flowers and feeders in Eastern Washington.

Third, the black chinned hummingbird also occurs in Eastern Washington, with a gorgeous purple throat patch on the males. They are the least common.

All three of these species migrate to Central America in the winter. They eat flower nectar and insects, so the northern migration route is generally up the coast or the lowlands east of the mountains, and the southward trek takes them down the crest of the mountain ranges where the flowers are in the late summer/early fall!

Fourth, Anna’s hummingbirds are the most common species in Western Washington and have in recent decades spread their range north as far as southeast Alaska. These beautiful little birds will use feeders all year and have created a dilemma for hummingbird lovers as to whether, or how, to maintain feeders full of sugar water all winter. (I won’t weigh in with my opinion – google that one up!). Anna’s hummingbirds don’t truly migrate, but will move to better feeding areas. A recent survey done in winter showed a few Anna’s hummingbirds wintering as far north as Juneau, Alaska! They also occur in much of Eastern Washington, and into southern British Columbia. Up until the late 1940s they had never been documented north of California. Since then, they have done a steady range expansion northwards, probably due to human plantings and feeding, and possibly a warming climate. This is an interesting story of an animal adjusting to our human presence.

How can small forest landowners help hummingbirds? Provide habitat! Maintain a diversity of habitats and plant species. Since hummers feed on flowering plants, focus on nectar bearing shrubs, such as elderberry, salmonberry or flowering currant (the same ones to benefit many other species!). Many other plants provide nectar and can be selected for tubular red flowers. Since they nest and rest in dense vegetation, providing patches of shrubs will definitely help hummingbirds.

Feeders are fun, but they must be kept clean and filled in a rather involved project.

Hummingbirds. Yet another benefit from small forest ownerships!

Send me your hummingbird stories and photos!

A great source of bird information is found at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Here’s another one loaded with hummingbird information (read about their tongues!).

Carnation Forest Becomes a Classroom for Coached Planning Students

Wendy, left, and Ben Davis are two of the members of the Davis family who welcomed DNR, WSU Extension Forestry and participants in the Extension’s Stewardship Coached Planning course to their forest land near Carnation. (Natalie Johnson/DNR)

By Natalie Johnson, communications manager, DNR, Natalie.johnson@dnr.wa.gov

After several weeks of virtual classes, squinting at their computer screens to learn about tree health, forest practice rules and writing stewardship plans, students in the Washington State University Extension Stewardship Coached Planning courses for northwest Washington got out in the woods to practice their new skills.

About 50 people from the two groups gathered for a field trip June 11 on forested land just outside of Carnation, in rural King County, owned by the Davis family, several of whom were also students in the class.

“It’s amazing what you don’t know,” said landowner Ben Davis, about the coached planning classes.

Davis said much of the land had been logged at one point – before his family acquired it – then was “left to its own devices.”

That means the forest is densely packed with trees of a similar age and height, and predominantly Douglas firs, although a few cedars have made it to maturity. The underbrush is thick and many stands are still in need of pruning after years of help from organizations like Washington State University Extension and King Conservation District.

DNR forest pathologist Rachel Brooks shows participants in the June 11 Stewardship Coached Planning field trip what to look for when identifying root rot. (Natalie Johnson/DNR)

One stand in particular has been treated for root rot – in this case by removing affected trees – giving Department of Natural Resources forest pathologist Rachel Brooks a perfect setting to talk about the disease. She noted that both root rot and the trees it infects are native to Washington and part of the forest’s natural process.

“A healthy forest has dead trees in it – we all need to remember that,” she said, while passing around examples of root rot – various types of fungus that attack trees through their roots — on bark and a young seedlings.

Brooks joined foresters from WSU Extension and other organizations to lead hour-long classes on topics including diseases, pruning and planting, measuring trees and thinning.

“It’s incredibly helpful,” Wendy Davis said of the coached planning course. “The best resource is just the access to the people and information.”

The forest is in need of some TLC, but it is already much loved by the Davis family as a getaway from city life. Ben Davis said they want to keep the forest health for future generations, and for now don’t plan on harvesting any timber.

“I won’t, but the grandkids might,” he said.

This spring, the WSU Extension forestry program, in partnership with DNR and other organizations, scheduled three versions of its Forest Stewardship Coached Planning for northeast, northwest, and southwest region forest landowners.

Kevin Zobrist, of WSU Extension Forestry, taught participants at the June 11 Stewardship Coached Planning field trip how to plant seeding trees. (Natalie Johnson/DNR)

The courses cover topics including tree health and identification, wildlife on private property, noxious weeds, soil, forest practice rules, cultural resources, and wildfire risk. Participants will also receive coaching on writing their own forest stewardship plan, which may also provide relevant information on county designated forestland tax classification requirements or conservation cost-share grants.

Northeast Washington landowners got the chance to take the course in person this year, based in Colville, but the Western Washington groups only met virtually until getting together for their field trips.

Some of the landowners at the field trip had just a few acres, while others had 60, 80 or more. Many came with family members, including more than a few parents and their either young or adult children.

Deborah Mendenhall, who owns land in the Seattle area, took the course with her adult son Dylan.

“I really like the legacy aspect of it — establishing a plan that’s going to live on past me,” she said.

 For information on upcoming courses, go to forestry.wsu.edu. Another round of coached planning classes will be offered this fall.

Announcements, Events, and Other News

The forest along Icy Creek, near Fall City, WA. (Holly Haley, DNR.)

Workshops

Variable Density Thinning Workshops

Variable density thinning is “a silvicultural strategy designed to accelerate development of late-successional habitat by applying a variety of harvest intensities within a stand” (USFS, 2018).  This practice dovetails with common small forest landowner management objectives like developing wildlife habitat and enhancing recreation and aesthetic value of a forest.  It can also be a low-impact form of harvest that landowners can utilize to meet tax-based county harvest requirements. These workshops will be held in-person at two locations in southwest Washington.

Seaquest State Park – April 26 from 6 p.m. -8 p.m.

Nisqually State Park – April 28 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Field Days

Check Extension Forestry | Washington State University (wsu.edu) for upcoming details and links for registration

May 20, Managing Forest Health Workshop and Field Day, Blue Mountains, Southeast Washington

June 11, Forest and Range Owners Field Day, Stevens County, Northeast Washington.

Webinars

Forest Stewardship in a Changing Climate

Between heat domes and record droughts, trees in the area are struggling, especially the hemlocks and cedars. Learn how to help your trees be more resilient to climate change at this virtual symposium virtual symposium. The sessions will be 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 21, April 28, and May 5. Different topics will be covered each evening. There is no cost to attend, but pre-registration is required.

Riparian Habitat and Invasive Species Control Webinar

Riparian habitat, the area surrounding streams and other bodies of water, is a common habitat type found in forests all across Washington. These areas are often hard to manage and easily overrun with invasive species. What can you do with that strip of trees along your stream? Learn about how you can improve your riparian habitat for wildlife and water quality and manage invasive species infestations. Participants will receive a Zoom link after registering and filling out a very short pre-webinar survey. The webinar is scheduled for April 21 at 6:30 p.m.

Oak Prairie Restoration in the San Juan Islands Webinar

Historically prevalent in the San Juan Islands but now considered one of the region’s most threatened and rare natural habitats, Garry oak (also known as Oregon white oak) prairie systems support a wide range of specialized species including migrating neotropical birds and species found nowhere else in Washington. WSU Extension and the San Juan Islands Conservation District will host a free webinar on April 27 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on how to create or restore this habitat on your property. This webinar will be followed by a field trip in June.

Carbon Opportunities for Forest Owners Virtual Symposium

Carbon credit markets have been around for years, but there have been few opportunities small forest landowners to participate. New market opportunities are emerging which may finally make forest carbon payments for local small forest landowners a reality. The virtual symposium will also talk about management strategies for carbon sequestration both in the forest and through generating long-lived wood products. While part of the focus of the symposium will be King County, much of the content of this symposium will be applicable region-wide. This virtual symposium comprises three Thursday evening sessions. The sessions will be 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on June 9, 16, and 23. Different topics will be covered each evening. There is no cost to attend, but pre-registration is required.

Classes

Forest Stewardship Coached Planning is the flagship course for small landowners and is put on in partnership by WSU Forestry Extension and DNR.  Topics covered include silviculture, ecology, harvesting, thinning, wildilfe, special forest products mapping, soils, and more.  Through this series of classes, landowners are “coached” through the process of writing a forest management plan for their property based on their own management objectives.

Online Forest Stewardship Coached Planning – SW WA

Two options:  Tuesdays mornings (May 3 – June 21) or Wednesday evenings (May 4 to June 22)

Online Forest Stewardship Coached Planning – NW WA

Two options:  Tuesdays mornings (May 3 – June 21) or Wednesday evenings (May 4 to June 22)

In-person Forest Stewardship Coached Planning – NE WA

Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., May 7 – June 11 at Spokane Community College – Colville Branch, with two field trips.

Meetings

2022 Annual Meeting Washington State Society of American Foresters

April 11–15, 2022 • virtual Hosted by South Puget Sound SAF WA

Upcoming Classes and Events for Small Forest Landowners

For more information regarding these classes and events go to: http://forestry.wsu.edu/

Forest Owners Field Day (Eastside) – Spokane

Saturday, June 23, 2018

Get more information about this event

 

Ties to the Land, Succession Planning for Family Forest Owners – Olympia

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Get more information about this event

 

Family Forest Owners Field Day (Westside) – Woodland

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Get information about this event

 

Selecting and Using Remote Cameras Effectively – Spokane

Saturday, September 8, 2018

 

Understanding and Controlling Wildlife Damage – Colville

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

 

Invasive Weed Control Field Practicum – Mount Vernon

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Get more information about this event

 

Forest Stewardship Coached Planning Shortcourse – Chehalis

September 17 – November 5

 

Tool and Chainsaw Safety, Maintenance, and Forest Protection Field Day – Trout Lake

September 22, 2018

 

Forest Stewardship Coached Planning Shortcourse- Leavenworth

October 29 – December 17

 

Forest Health and Wildfire Hazard Workshop and Hands-On Demonstration – White Salmon

November 10

 

Ties to the Land, Succession Planning for Family Forest Owners – Spokane

Friday, December 14, 2018

 

For more information regarding these classes and events go to: http://forestry.wsu.edu/

Two DNR Programs Helping to Conserve Forestland in the Chehalis Basin

A FREP easement along the Wynoochee River, a major tributary to the Chehalis River.

Recently, the Chehalis Basin Partnership was featured in an edition of the Small Forest Landowner News. One of the partnership’s stated goals is to keep forestry on the land because of its contributions to the basin’s environment and economy. Part of the Chehalis Basin Strategy is to improve river habitat and restore river banks. There are two programs administered by the Small Forest Landowner Office that are available to forest landowners, both large and small, that can help achieve these goals. Read on to learn about the Forestry Riparian Easement Program, and the Rivers and Habitat Open Space Program, and how they help not only forest landowners, but also the goals of the Chehalis Basin Partnership.

 

Forestry Riparian Easement Program: Designed for Small Landowners

The Forestry Riparian Easement Program (FREP) is available solely to small forest landowners who own at least 20 acres. The 1999 Legislature established FREP to help small forest landowners who may have seen the economic viability of their forestland reduced due increasing regulations. Small forest landowners—those who harvest less than two million board feet of timber per year—are eligible to apply to FREP. This program will reimburse landowners for 50 percent or more of the value of qualifying timber that is required to be left along fish bearing and non-fish bearing perennial streams, as well as certain wetlands. In return, the landowners grant the DNR a 50-year conservation easement on the trees in the riparian area. This program is on a first come, first served basis, and is funded based on the date of a complete application to the program.

In the Chehalis Basin, FREP has purchased 52 easements, with several more waiting for funding. These 52 easements protect of a total of 356 acres of riparian management zones (RMZ) around fish and non-fish perennial water, 196 acres of channel migration zones (CMZ), 43 acres of wetland management zones (WMZ), and 13 acres of unstable slopes adjacent to RMZs, CMZs or WMZs, for a total of over 600 acres of riparian forestland conserved. This also translates into protection for over 20 miles of streams and rivers in the basin.

 

Rivers and Habitat Open Space Program: Protecting Critical Habitat

A channel migration zone (CMZ) on the Satsop River.

The Rivers and Habitat Open Space Program (RHOSP) is available to small and large forest landowners alike. This program differs in a few important ways from FREP. First, this program is specifically for protecting channel migration zones and critical habitat for State-listed threatened or endangered species. RMZs, WMZs and unstable slopes are not specifically eligible (although potentially may be included as critical habitat). A landowner is reimbursed for 100 percent of the qualifying timber value, and grants the State a perpetual easement on the trees in the area identified as eligible. Unlike FREP, this program is not first come-first served, but is ranked by a committee based on conservation benefits and landowner management options.

The easements in this program tend to be for larger dollar amounts, and the program receives less funding from the Legislature, which results in fewer easement purchases. There are two RHOSP easements within the Chehalis Basin, one within a CMZ on the Satsop River, and one within the CMZ of the Humptulips River. Together, these easements conserve an additional 57 acres of CMZ within the basin, and over two miles of additional stream length. One of these easements was granted to a large forest landowner, and one to small forest landowner.

If you own forestland, and think you might be interested in any one of these programs, please don’t hesitate to email me for more information. You may also contact your local landowner assistance or stewardship forester for more information as well.

By Matt Provencher, Conservation Easement Program Coordinator, DNR Small Forest Landowner Office, matthew.provencher@dnr.wa.gov