Indicators
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Forest Production and Protection
About this indicator: This forestry indicator combines a look at forest land conservation with forest production trend information. The indicators include both private and public lands.
The Forest Production District (FPD), which is the county's designated forestland of long term commercial significance, is 824,000 acres, over half of King County. Another 52,630 acres have been identified as Rural Forest Focus Areas; these are large contiguous blocks of forested land in the rural area.
The number of acres of forestland in the FPD and the number of acres of forested land conserved through easements limiting the development rights are used as indicators of long term conservation of working forest.
Washington Department of Revenue data is used to track the volume of timber harvested in King County each year. It is an indicator of the economic activity of forestry reflecting the general health of the forest industry. It is broken down into public and private lands.
DNRP Response: The DNRP Forestry Program works on County policy to encourage forestry and to ensure that the County is meeting its obligations under the state's Growth Management Act to protect forestland of long term commercial significance. Policies encourage both the protection of the land base and support for continued forestry as a commercial activity. The Department staffs the Rural Forest Commission, which advises on County policies, regulations and programs relevant to forestry. The Department also has a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program that works with forest landowners to transfer development rights from their properties to ensure permanent protection of forest resources through conservation easements placed over the property when development rights are transferred.
What you can do
- Develop a forest stewardship plan for your forested property
- Learn how to protect your home from wildfire and have a healthy forest too
- Consider enrolling protecting your forested land through a property tax reduction or transfer of development rights program
More information about King County's Forest Production & Protection Index is available by continuing below for these measures:
- Acres of Development Rights Transferred
- Total Acres in Forest Production District
- Private — volume of timber harvested (MBF)
- Public (non-federal) — volume of timber harvested (MBF)
Acres of Development Rights Transferred
About this indicator: This indicator looks at acres preserved in forest in the Forest Production District and Rural Forest Focus Areas. Securing easements on private forestland to restrict development is a relatively new conservation tool in King County.
Status: More than 140,000 acres of working forest in King County have been protected through King County's Transfer of Development Rights program. Public transactions have protected nearly 94,500 acres and private transactions have protected more than 45,500 acres. The two largest deals were a King county purchase of development rights from 89,500 acres of the Snoqualmie Tree Farm and a private transaction protecting more than 45,000 acres in the upper Green River watershed.
Influencing factors: Adding to the acreage under easements is a result of complicated negotiations, funding availability, and willingness of landowners to enter into easement agreements.
Priority new actions: DNRP is not only working to protect large forested tracts, but is also working with the owners of smaller forest acreages that experience strong pressure to convert forest to urban land uses.
For definitions and more detail.
Total Acres in Forest Production District
About this indicator: Total acreage in the FPD zoning designation is stable while land use patterns within the FPD are subject to change. Population growth puts pressures on the forest industry, as the land becomes more valuable for residential uses and encroaching development makes it more difficult to conduct forestry operations.
Status: Currently there are 824,000 acres in the Forest Production District. Of this, about 233,000 acres are owned by large commercial interests. This is a decrease of about 53,000 acres since 1997.
Influencing factors: An analysis of private land ownership changes reveals that forestland in the FPD is gradually being subdivided and sold by large timber companies to smaller individual and commercial ownerships. The smaller parcels are more likely to be developed for residential purposes and not managed for commercial forestry. Government purchases of commercial forestland in the FPD in recent years also have tended to take land out of forest production.
Priority new actions: Two adopted 2008 Comprehensive Plan policies address the public land in the FPD. One recognizes the large area of the FPD that is publicly owned, encourages continued forest management on these lands, and directs the County to collaborate with other land managers. The second directs the County to encourage continued private forestry in its acquisition efforts, and directs that acquisitions in the FPD be evaluated to ensure that the long term commercial significance of the FPD is not compromised.
For definitions and more detail.
Private — volume of timber harvested (MBF)
About this indicator: Timber sale volume in the county is used as an indicator of the general health of the forest industry. Timber harvests vary widely from year to year, so it is useful to examine many years of data in order to see trends.
Status: In 2010 timber harvested on private land totaled 62.8 million board feet valued at $14 million. Timber harvests have generally declined since 2005 with a particularly sharp drop in 2009 to about half of the ten-year average annual volume.
Influencing factors: The data show that forest harvest is variable from year to year. The most significant influencing factor for how much timber is harvested in any one year is the price of logs, which varies considerably depending on housing markets and other factors. In contrast, the harvest levels on public land are more likely a result of long term plans rather than a response to markets.
For definitions and more detail.
Public (non-federal) — volume of timber harvested (MBF)
About this indicator: The variation in harvest levels on public land does not follow the trend on private lands. They both vary widely, but do not track each other from year to year.
Status: Timber harvests on public lands in King County totaled 19 million board feet valued at $4.3 million in 2010. These represent a sharp drop in both volume and revenue from 2007, but are higher than 2008 and 2009.
Influencing factors: A large part of the FPD, sixty-eight percent, is in public ownership, which preserves the forest land base, but does not necessarily contribute to forestry activity. The USDA Forest Service ownership, the Cedar River and Tolt River watersheds owned by the City of Seattle, the State Natural Resource Conservation Areas, and the King County natural areas, are restrictive in their land management policy, allowing no or very limited forestry activities.
Priority new actions: Comprehensive Plan policies encourage continued forest management on public lands in the FPD and direct that the County's acquisitions of private forestland in the FPD be evaluated to ensure that the long term commercial significance of the FPD is not compromised.
For definitions and more detail.
