By Donelle Mahan, Online Project Manager, Forest Practices Program, Washington Department of Natural Resources, donelle.mahan@dnr.wa.gov
(Credit: Dave Wischer, DNR)
The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR)’s Forest Practices program administers and enforces the Forest Practices Rules that protect public safety, water quality, and fish and wildlife habitat on the 12 million acres of Washington’s state-owned and private forestlands. The rules include legal standards for logging, road construction, pesticide application, and other forestry-related activities – while maintaining a viable forest products industry. DNR administers and enforces the rules through a permitting process, called a Forest Practices Application/Notification.
DNR’S Forest Practices program is excited to announce the building of a new tool for processing Forest Practices Applications (FPAs)and associated forms required for regulated forest practices. The current system, Forest Practices Application Review System (FPARS), requires landowners to manually submit paper FPAs and fee payments through checks.
The new fpOnline system will provide all landowners with a modern, efficient method to electronically fill out, create or attach a map, sign, and submit FPAs. fpOnline will also provide the option to pay for your FPA electronically. fpOnline will also automatically provide notification to reviewers from city, county, and state agencies and tribes so they can review and track FPAs and other documents. DNR expects to launch fpOnline in January 2025. DNR will continue to offer the paper Forest Practices Application process for applicants once fpOnline goes live.
For more information about fpOnline and how to stay aware of its progress, please visit DNR’s fpOnline website: https://www.dnr.wa.gov/fpOnline-info, and sign up for the newsletter and email alerts or consider joining one of fpOnline’s Forest Landowner Advisory Committees.
By Liz Smith, Assistant Region Manager, Southeast Region, Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Liz.Smith@dnr.wa.gov
I recently had the pleasure of presenting with Raul Martinez, Forest and Community Resilience External Affairs Manager with the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to the Yakima Rotary Club. With over 100 Rotarians in attendance, we had an engaged crowd with several questions and comments regarding the work the DNR Service Forestry team is completing in Yakima County. Our presentation covered what home and landowners can do to prepare their homes and property for wildfire. Raul focused on the Home Ignition Zone along with DNR’s Wildfire Ready Neighbors program.
I focused my presentation on how our Wildfire Resilience and Forest Health program works with private landowners, and the process to sign up for financial assistance. I was able to incorporate a key partnership with the West Valley Fire Department on a project that was completed near Tampico, WA, and a project on private land in the Ahtanum. Partnerships are critical with the work we do, and we have the luxury of have many great partners in Yakima county!
DNR’s wildfire resilience and forest health programs are funded by state and federal dollars. Federal grants are critical to the success of our Service Forestry program and provide much needed funding to implement our financial assistance and strategic fuels reduction contracts. We also now receive quite a bit of state funding for our Forest Resilience program work on private lands, through House Bill 1168 which created a first-of-its-kind Wildfire Response, Forest Restoration, and Community Resilience Account.
We are working on Western States Fire Managers (WSFM) grants, funded by the USDA Forest Service’s State, Private, and Tribal Forestry Consolidated Payment Grant program. This one, along with our National Fire Plan (NFP) Non-Federal WUI grants, are grants we’ve annually applied for since at least 2008. We write our grants for areas and communities in need of extra funding due to high landowner demand, and when the areas rank as a high priority in DNR’s Treatment Prioritization Layers (if available).
Given the increased demand for our program services, we’ve begun seeking out additional grant funding sources that fit our program needs, and not overburden our staff with tricky or unexpected grant administration. New to our program beginning last year is the addition of Community Wildfire Defense Grants (CWDGs). We were successful in receiving two CWDGs last year: I-90 Horsepark, and White Salmon. We just submitted three more proposals for this year. CWDGs are open to any organization or entity in the country, so they are extremely competitive.
The 14-acre Tampico project was highlighted on the West Valley Fire and Rescue Facebook page in August. Below is the post along with a couple of before and after pictures of the work that was completed.
“Tampico area landowners, are you aware the DNR has funding to reduce fuels on your property? Today we visited a property up the South Fork that recently completed fuel reduction work on 14 acres, final project completion will be this fall when all the brush piles are burned. What a difference removing brush and ladder fuels made on this property to reduce fire risk to their home and buildings. If you would like more information on how you can receive funding to improve your properties defensible space contact the WADNR.”
Tampico fuels reduction project, before and after treatment (Ben Hartmann, DNR)
The “Ahtanum” fuel break (pictures below) is currently in progress, with 32 acres of 67 completed. The project is located in a very important recreation area and attracts hikers, horseback riders, and hunters from all across the PNW. Many come to access the NE corner of the Goat Rocks Wilderness.
The Ahtanum fuel break project, before and after treatment. (Ben Hartmann, DNR)
I am pleased with the feedback and questions we received and am hoping the presentation turns into our next project in Yakima County!
Forest Stewardship Coached Planning is the flagship course for small landowners and is put on in partnership by WSU Forestry Extension and the WDNR. Topics covered include silviculture, ecology, harvesting, thinning, wildlife, special forest products mapping, soils, and much 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. Your management plan is a key to accessing resources for small forest landowners in this area, such as reduced property taxes, financial assistance programs, and becoming a certified stewardship forest.
Forest Stewardship Coached Planning is the flagship course for small landowners and is put on in partnership by WSU Forestry Extension and the WDNR. Topics covered include silviculture, ecology, harvesting, thinning, wildlife, special forest products mapping, soils, and much 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. Your management plan is a key to accessing resources for small forest landowners in this area, such as reduced property taxes, financial assistance programs, and becoming a certified stewardship forest.
By Lauren Padgett, Communications Manager, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, lauren.padgett@dnr.wa.gov
It’s been a little more than a year since DNR launched the Landowner Assistance Portal, which aims to help landowners manage their forests with resources related to everything from water typing to wildfire.
DNR’s Landowner Assistance Portal is a one-stop shop for landowner needs. (Credit: DNR)
Since the portal launched last summer, DNR has asked for feedback on this portal and launched a survey to help us make changes. Frankly, we haven’t gotten much feedback, but we know it needs some improvement.
Are you getting the information that you need? If not, what was the challenge? DNR is dedicated to making this a useful tool for everyone.
Currently, the Landowner Assistance Portal has four categories:
Resources for Managing My Forest
Keeping My Forest Healthy
Education and Training
Permits and Regulations
Within each category, landowners can find tips and resources, including 34 of the most common subjects related to things like road permits, fish passage, prescribed fire and forest management plans. There are also links to some of the most popular programs offered by DNR that private landowners can take advantage of – things like financial and technical assistance for fuels reduction, wildlife stewardship and wildfire preparedness.
The portal was created in collaboration with the Forest Resilience and Forest Regulation divisions of DNR, after hearing from landowners that finding information can be a struggle. It aims to be a one-stop shop that also includes the popular Find Your Forester Tool to locate service foresters in the area.
If you have any feedback on this tool and would like to help improve it, please fill out our survey or email your suggestions to OneStopShop@Dnr.wa.gov.
The Small Forest Landowner Office is continuing to grow. Allow us to introduce Kellen Salseina, our new Forest Check Cruiser for our Forestry Riparian Easement Program (FREP) and Rivers and Habitat Open Space Program (RHOSP) easements.
Forest Check Cruiser Kellen Salseina with son Larson
Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a lifetime Washington resident. In 2004, I began my forestry career on the timber harvesting side, learning how to manufacture and market timber. During the recession of 2008/2009, I moved to a seasonal position in Wildland Fire with the DNR Northwest region. I continued my work in fire until I was able to obtain a position as a DNR forester. I have had the opportunity to work in the Olympic Region out of Forks as a state lands forester, as well as federal lands restoration specialist in the Northeast Region in Colville.
I have one son named Larson who is 3. He is vary caring, and loves to play on the family farm in Birdsview.
In my spare time I enjoy being with family, fishing, hunting, riding dirt bikes, and playing golf.
Describe your job.
My position is working in the Forest Riparian Easement and Rivers and Habitat Open Space programs. The specifics of the position involve cruising and check cruising timber on specific sites that meet the program requirements.
Why do you think our work is important?
The FREP and RHOSP programs are vital to maintaining connective habitats on our rivers, streams, and open spaces. These habitat types are critical to maintaining salmon habitat, wildlife habitat and maintain biodiversity.
What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?
I want to leave a legacy of honesty, fair, dependable and persistence. I believe that any objective can be achieved with the right attitude.
What is your favorite kind of tree and why?
My favorite overall tree is an Aspen. They have significant root systems which generate clones. The appearance of these trees in the fall is beautiful and makes a unique quaking sound when it’s windy. My favorite commercial species is Big leaf Maple. I also enjoy the fall colors of this tree and its many uses from furniture, guitar wood, and even being one of the best species of firewood.
By Kelsey Ketcheson, DNR Service Forestry Coordinator, kelsey.ketcheson@dnr.wa.gov andHolly Haley, DNR Small Forest Landowner Community Outreach and Environmental Education Specialist, holly.haley@dnr.wa.gov.
DNR’s Webster Forest Nursery in Tumwater, WA. (Gantz, DNR)
Webster Forest Nursery is the state’s only public nursery, operated by the Washington Department of Natural Resources. The nursery grows a variety of native conifer seedlings for reforestation in Washington State and sells them to the public to help landowners meet planting objectives and requirements.
The nursery has undergone some exciting changes recently. DNR determined that the nursery would need to more than double its production to keep up with growing demand. Fortunately, the state legislature approved funding for capital investments to increase seed collection and production and replace aging infrastructure.
In addition, the nursery welcomed a new manager, Carlos Gantz. Carlos took some time to tell us more about himself and what is planned for the nursery.
Carlos Gantz, Webster Forest Nursery Manger. (Gantz, DNR)
Tell us about yourself. What is your education and experience, and how did you become Webster Nursery manager?
I am originally from Chile, where I got my forest engineering degree and worked for several years in private forestry companies. In 2008, I started working for GreenWood Resources Inc., a timberland investment and management organization headquartered in Portland, Oregon. After some years managing the genetic tree improvement program and nursery in Chile, the company promoted me to take the same responsibility, but at a global level, overseeing projects in Chile, China, Colombia, Brazil, Poland, and Uruguay.
Then, I moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2012. I lived in Camas, Washington for eight years while my office was in Portland. In 2021, I moved to northern California to work with Green Diamond Resource Co., and was in charge of the nursery and the Redwood genetic tree improvement. Then I moved to DNR and happily returned to Washington State.
Why were you interested in working at DNR and moving to Washington?
I had always worked in private companies. But, when I had the possibility to work at DNR, I thought it was a good opportunity to contribute to its mission of manage, sustain and protect Washington State working forests and at the same time, give back to the community.
I really feel the Webster Nursery is a tremendous contribution to that mission. The nursery is well known beyond Washington State, and even beyond the United States. Many nursery managers and professionals from around the world have come to visit the nursery and learn its techniques for producing great seedlings. So, again, I thought this was a great opportunity for me, and I decided to take it.
How is Webster’s relevant to small forest landowners?
DNR Webster Nursery is quite unique among other forestry nurseries, especially private nurseries, because we have as part of our mission the supply of the best quality seedlings to DNR and small forest landowners at the same time. Understanding many of the challenges they may have for forestation or reforestation, we have seedlings available for them, without a minimum number of seedlings they can buy. We have around 400 to 500 small forest landowner customers to whom we sell seedlings every year. We also provide seedlings to Washington municipalities, tribes, universities, and contribute research for DNR and the United States Forest Service (USFS). That is very rewarding.
Webster Forest Nursery outdoor tree plantings. (Gantz, DNR)
What are some current challenges you face at the nursery?
Access to trained personnel and qualified workforce is a challenge that is shared by almost all nurseries in the country. The forest seedlings demand has increased considerably in the Pacific Northwest due to several factors, like the huge wildfires that we had years ago, and we are limited in our capacity to grow. Nevertheless, thanks to the state support, we are starting to do different types of studies on the evaluation of a future expansion.
Could you explain a little more about new funding sources and what you plan to do with the money?
We received funding to support the first phase of a three phase project to expand nursery production. The first phase is a full pre-design to occur during the 2023-25 biennium. The second phase of the project, occurring during the 2025-27 Biennium, will deliver a full design and construction of storm water mitigation structures. The final phase would be to build new greenhouses and growing pads to increase seedling production.
Right now, we are starting with the first phase of the project to complete the pre-design that includes a full storm water study and a full storm water mitigation plan and design that will allow us to start the construction of storm water structures. This requires the inclusion of topographic, geological and archaeological studies.
Also, we will start with the replacement of the old Seed Center, to increase seed storage capacity and improve efficiencies in seed processing, again, to be able to increase tree plantings in the state. The seed plant is located in the nursery, but I am not directly involved in this project. The construction will start in 2024 and the new facility will be finished in 2025.
An indoor greenhouse at Webster Forest Nursery. (Gantz, DNR)
What is your favorite tree?
This is a difficult question! All trees are wonderful! I have many favorite trees, some from my native country, like the Monkey Puzzle Tree (Araucaria araucana), a tree that is quite old, from an evolutionary point of view. It inhabits at high elevations in the Andes in Central Chile. I have seen several trees here in the Pacific Northwest! Other favorite species are Coastal redwood, Noble fir and Douglas fir, which is the main species used as a Christmas tree in Chile, so I have had kind of an attachment to it since I was a child.
For more information on seedling availability and the ordering process, please visit the Webster Forest Nursery website or you can reach the nursery at 360-902-1234 or 877-890-2626, or email websternursery@dnr.wa.gov. On the website, you will also find a variety of information resources, including the Planting Forest Seedlings brochure with advice on how to best select, plant, and care for tree seedlings and feel free to contact your local DNR service forester for advice too.
By Steve Harris, Regulation and Resilience Assistant Manager, Northeast Region Washington State Department of Natural Resources, steven.harris@dnr.wa.gov
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Northeast Region Service Forestry Team has provided financial and technical assistance to thousands of small forest landowners over the past couple of decades. Many of these small forest landowners have conducted forest health improvement and fuels reduction projects on their properties to make their forests more resilient to insect and disease attacks and wildfires. These projects typically involve non-commercial tree thinning, pruning, and slash disposal.
Tree thinning reduces competition for limited nutrients, water, and sunshine. Pruning reduces “ladder” fuels that can carry flames up into the tree canopy. Slash disposal removes or rearranges the fuel loading from the thinning and pruning operations.
Unfortunately, the 2023 fire season in Washington’s Northeast Region was especially destructive this year, with several catastrophic wildfires. On August 18, 2023, the conditions were especially ripe for wildfire. The temperature was in the mid-nineties, the relative humidity was as low as three percent and the wind was blowing at a steady 20-plus miles per hour. Two wildfires, the Gray and Oregon Road Fires, spread quickly with high intensity under these conditions.
Landowners had little time to pack up their important belongings and evacuate. Before the fires were brought under control, over 20 thousand acres burned and more than 700 structures, including primary residences, were destroyed. Within the fire perimeters, 53 separate small forest landowners had participated in DNR’s Financial Assistance for Wildfire Resilience and Forest Health program. A total of 110 projects were tested by the two fires.
In the spring of 2023, DNR initiated a pilot monitoring program called the Wildfire Interaction with Treatments Survey (WITS) to determine the effectiveness of forest health and fuels reduction projects when tested by wildfires. The Oregon Road and Gray Fires provided a good opportunity to test the project.
The results of the survey showed that the forest health and fuels reduction projects effectively changed the fire behavior in the favor of the forests and landowners. Some of the treatment units still experienced high mortality, due to the extreme burning conditions. Other treatment units look like a nice, prescribed fire had burned through the treatment area. Adjacent, untreated areas did not fare so well.
Dane Tackitt is a small forest landowner who had a unit tested by a running crown fire. A crown fire is a fire sustained in the tree canopy. The fire burned intensely as it entered the treatment unit but then dropped to the forest floor and burned on the surface. The fire intensity dropped even more as it burned deeper into the unit to the point where the fire burned as a “good fire.” A good fire is one that burns in the understory and typically provides numerous ecological benefits.
Oregon fire dropped from the tree canopy to the forest floor when it encountered the treated area. (Jessica Walston, DNR).
Other fires within Northeast Region in 2023 impacted fuels reduction and forest health projects. On July 31, 2023, the West Hallet fire ignited in the wildland urban interface between Cheney and Spokane, Washington. The fire only burned 120 acres, but threatened hundreds of residences. Numerous ground and air resources were brought to bear on the fire as it burned rapidly towards homes. The fire was successfully controlled with no loss of buildings, due to a great coordinated initial attack and multiple forest and fuels reduction projects.
Cindy and Brian Fiut’s 15-acre parcel of land, home, and shops were located directly in the path of the fire. Fortunately, the Fiut’s recognized their risk of fire when they moved to the area over a decade before. In 2013, they reached out to the DNR and signed up the for the standard 50:50 cost share program for 6.1 acres of tree thinning, pruning, and slash disposal. They hired a contractor who completed the work to the satisfaction of the Fiut’s and the DNR service forester. Every year since then, Cindy and her sister have spent hours maintaining the treatment area with pole saws and loppers.
As the West Hallet Fire spread up the hill in the tree canopy towards the Fiut’s property, Cindy and Brian quickly packed up their essential items and left the house with the feeling that they would return to see their home and forest destroyed. This did not happen. When the fire encountered the treated area, it dropped out of the canopy to the ground. It then spread with much lower intensity. Interviews with initial attack firefighters on scene revealed ground resources were then able to take advantage of the lower fire intensity and safely take suppression action to stop the fire on the Fiut’s property.
When Cindy and Brian were able to return to their property, they discovered that their fuel reduction efforts had paid off. All their structures survived and only a few of trees appeared to have died from the fire. The fire went from a stand replacing crown fire on the neighboring untreated land to a good surface fire on the Fiut’s property.
Fiut Treated Property on the Right. Untreated Neighboring Property on the Left. (Steve Harris, DNR)
The Fiut Treatment Area was the very first fire to have a WITS monitoring survey completed on it. The survey revealed the treatment was effective in altering the fire behavior, allowing for fire fighters to safely take suppression action. It also revealed the importance of maintaining fuel reductions treatments. Brian Fiut often joked about Cindy being like a Ninja warrior with her pruning saw, but now he sees how important it is to actively manage your forest.
By Clare Sobetski, Youth Education and Outreach Program Manager, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, clare.sobetski@dnr.wa.gov
Fourth grade students from Shelton School District participate in the Students in the Watershed event at Tahuya State Forest. (Clare Sobetski, DNR).
The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is launching a Youth Education and Outreach Program (YEOP) to facilitate place-based, career-connected, outdoor learning experiences on state lands and cultivate the next generation of natural resource professionals. As a former high school science teacher, I know how important it is to get students outside and how infrequent outdoor learning experiences are in the traditional school setting. I think often of the Wendell Berry quote:
“We have the world to live in on the condition that we will take good care of it. And to take good care of it, we have to know it. And to know it and to be willing to take care of it, we have to love it.”
We can impress upon students the importance of caring for and stewarding our natural resources in a classroom, but, if we want to cultivate the personal connections that go beyond intellectual understanding, we must get students outside.
Just over a year ago, I left the classroom and joined DNR to design and develop our agency’s strategy for connecting with youth audiences. The goals of the resulting Youth Education and Outreach Program (YEOP) are two-fold: to bolster ongoing environmental education efforts across Washington, and to engage youth in critical career exploration and preparation in the natural resources sector. The YEOP is also a part of DNR’s larger workforce development strategy and our efforts to cultivate a natural resource workforce that meets the sector-wide needs and reflects the demographics of the communities we serve.
To achieve these goals, the YEOP will tap into the expertise of the more than 1,400 natural resource professionals DNR employs and connect our experts in forestry, aquaculture, ecology, geology, horticulture, habitat restoration, wildfire, engineering, trail design, geospatial information, policy, and archaeology with youth audiences for career exploration and mentorship.
YEOP will also increase access to the 5.6 million acres of DNR-managed lands across the state, which is a highly underutilized resource in public education. Our public shorelines, rivers, forests, and grasslands are great outdoor classrooms for K-12 students to explore scientific phenomena, engage in projects to improve ecosystem health, and learn alongside current professionals.
Community members view zooplankton under a microscope at the Woodard Bay Conservation Area. (Will Rubin, DNR).
Washington’s youth care deeply about issues that are central to DNR’s mission—climate and wildfire resilience, protection of ecological and cultural resources, responsible recreation, sustainable resource management, and environmental justice—but many feel hopeless about their ability to affect positive change. Additionally, most young people are not aware of the breadth of jobs available in natural resources or the pathways into those careers. Through YEOP, DNR will empower youth in decision-making processes, cultivate stewardship behaviors, build environmental literacy, and support the physical and mental wellbeing of young people through outdoor experiences.
In its first year, YEOP has worked alongside other key partners like the Pacific Education Institute, conservation districts, Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups, and industry partners to support events including:
Middle and high school teachers visit an active logging site during a teacher training in Skagit County. (Lara Tukarski, Pacific Education Institute).
Field days for students to learn more about management of state lands, the principles of multi-use, and the tools and methods that professionals utilize to evaluate forest health
Student projects, including tree planting, camera trap installation for wildlife tracking, and the development of Forest Stewardship Management Plans for school district-owner properties
Tours of the state’s Webster Forest Nursery and visits to Aquatic Reserves
2-day teacher trainings in Skagit and Lewis counties for classroom teachers to learn about modern forest practices and explore curriculum resources
An event at Woodard Bay for Latinx community members with Spanish language interpretation
Guest presentations about career opportunities in natural resource management
Career fairs, STEM nights, and teacher conferences
YEOP is a new program, and we are excited to watch it grow! As our staff increases, we will be able to support more incoming requests from schools and educational programs and conduct more targeted outreach to schools to improve the equity of our programming. Over the next 6-years, our program seeks to:
Build DNR’s internal capacity for outreach and education work with youth statewide
Facilitate educator trainings on natural resource topics
Curate and creating curriculum resources for use by DNR staff and a diversity of educators
Launch an educator natural resource conference and youth natural resource camp
Facilitate authentic projects to elevate student voice in decision-making
Support corps programs, pre-apprenticeships, internships, and career and technical education
Establish systems for tracking outcomes and evaluating the efficacy of programming
A summer intern from Tumwater School District uses an increment borer to age a tree during a stand assessment. (Clare Sobetski, DNR).
We are working to build our network of statewide partners and would love to connect with you!
If you are interested in signing up for the YEOP newsletter, or sharing your ideas and perspectives, please contact YEOP manager, Clare Sobetski, at clare.sobetski@dnr.wa.gov.
By Rachel Santa Olalla, Urban & Community Forestry Outreach Specialist, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, rachel.santa-olalla@dnr.wa.gov
Urban Forestry brings communities health and vibrancy in a variety of ways. Urban areas aren’t always cities; they are also streets, parks, and neighborhoods. Having trees in these spaces provides habitat for animals and birds and can cool streams for fish, much like trees on private forestland do in a riparian area.
DNR Urban & Community Forestry staff discuss tree pruning in Chelan, WA. (Jess Lloyd, DNR).
Tree canopy cover in urban areas is important now more than ever as our world heats up, creating what is called an “urban heat island.” These hotter spaces are detrimental to vulnerable populations like the elderly, children, and those with compromised health. Trees in urban spaces reduce the need for heating and cooling in buildings, while attracting more customers to businesses. Trees in public spaces create memories for people in the community and recreation opportunities. For all the reasons that trees make public urban spaces better, we can see why the urban forest is necessary. The connection between trees and people is often associated with less urban areas, but the need for connection doesn’t fade in the urban context. If anything, the urban forest is a critical component to urban life.
Since the inception of the Department of Natural Resources Urban and Community Forestry Program in 1990, there have been about three employees serving Washington on a budget of roughly $400 thousand, including grant funding. With new funding from the State Legislature’s Natural Climate Solutions Account and the Inflation Reduction Act, the Urban and Community Forestry program has tripled in capacity. Along with a larger team is a historic $7 million in pass through grant funding for Washington’s communities to enhance their urban forests.
Do you think your community could use more trees in urban or semi-urban areas? Let your local planners know about the 2024 Community Forestry Assistance Grant opportunity that closes on January 8, 2024 by sharing this one-pagerwith them. Information about the grant cycle can be found on the Urban and Community Forestry Program website.
With an overwhelming amount of grant funding to pass through, we are encouraging communities to read through the Request for Applications, watch the webinars, read the FAQ document, and apply. Eligible applicants include 501(c)(3) organizations, Tribes, cities, towns, counties, educational institutions, and special taxing districts (conservation districts, parks districts, school districts, etc.) in Washington state.
Oftentimes, in more rural areas, there is not much capacity for local governments to support work like this. In those cases, community volunteers make a world of difference. It is possible to partner with an eligible applicant if you would like to support your community.
While $7 million is significantly more grant funding than the program has ever seen, it will be distributed equitably, with a match waiver available. Not all communities in Washington have the same challenges or opportunities to better their environments. To act on environmental justice, 50 percent of funds will go to communities with the greatest needs. Using the Washington Health Disparities Map shows us communities that rank a 9 or 10. Communities that do not rank 9 or 10 on the WHD Map are still eligible and are encouraged to apply. Eligible projects range from supporting nature-deprived communities, workforce development, urban wood utilization, urban food forests, mitigating extreme heat, creating an urban forest inventory, maintenance plans, public engagement, and more.
Members of DNR’s Urban & Community Forestry staff. (DNR)
With an influx of funding and urban forestry projects on the horizon comes a need for support. In addition to special project positions for Urban Forestry Inventory Analysis with USDA Forest Service, and existing program positions, the Urban and Community Forestry Program has hired several new positions including an Outreach Specialist, Evergreen Communities Coordinator, Urban Forestry Technicians for eastern Washington and western Washington, plus a Financial Assistance Planner. Support roles have also contracted with other programs within the Forest Health and Resilience Division to gain a GIS Analyst and a Contract Specialist.
While the UCF Program does not serve private lands, we are available to support you in advocating for the health of your local urban forest. If you have questions or comments to share, please contact Rachel Santa Olalla at rachel.santa-olalla@dnr.wa.gov.
“Mother Nature ultimately thins a forest—one way, or another.”
–Tony Craven, Director, Lands and Natural Resources, Suncadia
Tony Craven describes himself as “a descendent of coal miners and gravediggers.” He lives in his birthplace, Roslyn, Washington—population near 900—where his father was the state’s first Black mayor.
Tony and his five siblings all worked in the U.S. Forest Service at one time. His brother, Tom, died in 2001 fighting the Thirty Mile Fire. In a sense, the family’s history traces a circle from mining carbon to protecting the trees that store it.
In 1988, on the first day of his two-decades with the Forest Service, Tony joined a fire crew for a 20-hour mission.
“Getting 200-300 hours of overtime back then was considered a lot; nowadays, crews are rolling 700 hours of overtime in a season,” Tony said. He came to fire lines just as debt on a century of aggressive fire suppression policy in the American West was coming due.
That same year, a conflagration consumed vast reaches of Yellowstone National Park, marking the start of a new era.
“Now, we’re dealing with megafires we struggle to control because fuels buildup is overwhelming.” In 2015 alone, a million acres of forestland in Washington was erased by fire. “How many spotted owls died in those woods?” he wonders.
Tony Craven, Director, Lands and Natural Resources, Suncadia. (Jeff Gersh, WFFA)
“People forget, or maybe don’t want to remember,” Tony says. “In the West, we live in places that burn. Before European settlement, there was often smoke in the air from lightning strikes and indigenous use of fire.”
Today, Tony serves as Director of Lands and Natural Resources for Suncadia, a resort community in eastern Washington where he manages 3,900 acres of forestland. He’s also the chair of Kittitas Fire Adapted Communities, whose mission is to educate the public about living with fire and reducing its impacts.
“Forests in eastern Washington are three to five times over the historic stocking rate in many places. Pre-European arrival, a typical acre held 20-80 trees,” Tony says. “Now, we’re at 120 to one thousand trees or more.”
Contrary to what many people believe, old growth trees are not necessarily giants. “I can show you 80-year-old stands of Ponderosa pine where the average tree is about 12 inches in diameter; they are so over-crowded that a deer would have a hard time getting through. They’re not a major carbon sink; they’re a fire hazard. Is that what we want?”
Much of Tony’s time is spent managing crews to thin Suncadia’s woods, mostly Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and a smattering of lodgepole, larch, and white pine. With hotter, drier, longer summers of a warming climate, less water is available in the soil, another consideration for thinning as part of an emerging management approach some call “climate smart forestry”
“By reducing the density of trees, we end up with bigger trees more resilient to fire, less severe fires, and less carbon burned up and entering the atmosphere when fire comes,” Tony says. “The trees remaining capture more resources and stay healthier. When we turn those thinned trees into wood products, we’re locking up carbon for another 50-100 years or more. And if we use prescribed fire, we can store carbon in the ground for longer because its release is slower.”
Before thinning and after thinning
Tony sees landscapes through the lens of fire.
“I’m simulating what fire would have done historically.” In addition to creating space for trees to grow larger, he uses a masticator to remove dense stands of fire-prone shrubs. He prunes trees up to 10 feet high. Fallen logs, less likely to burn, are left to create habitat and decompose over time. “What I tell small forest owners is, that unless you’re prepared to let fire come into your woods and do what it needs to do, you need to manage to a healthy stocking rate.”
“Fire is Mother Nature’s primary forestry tool,” Tony says with emphasis. “Suppress it, and she’ll send root diseases or bugs. Fire will eventually clean up what’s left, but probably not the way you’d like. So, you can be passive and wait for Mother Nature to sort out your woods; or you can be an active manager.”
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% 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% 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, contact Elaine Oneil, executive director of WFFA: eoneil@wafarmforestry.com.
Small Forest Landowner News 