Background

The Washington State Community Forest Trust program was created in 2010 to acquire and manage working forests at risk for development or conversion to other uses.  Community Forests are held and managed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).  The program includes a strong role for local community partners, including nomination of forests to the program, providing matching funds for acquisition, and development, with the DNR, of a working forest management plan.   Pope Resources land on the Kitsap Peninsula has been proposed for nomination as a pilot community forest by the Great Peninsula Conservancy and other conservation organizations.  The program requires forests to be able to support themselves financially through timber production or other revenue generating activities.

Our Work

To assess the capacity of the property to support the purchase and produce additional ecological services, eight alternatives were developed.  Two 45-year rotation alternatives were developed to quantify the maximum economic potential of the property.  The remaining alternatives represent a range of management alternatives under FSC, including maximum revenue allowable under the system guidelines.  In addition to economic objectives, alternatives were evaluated for stand structure and forest carbon.

Riparian and FSC upland reserve were delineated for each management alternative.  Treatments were simulated using the Pacific Northwest variant of the Forest Vegetation Simulator growth model.  Stands were simulated for 35 years with five year increments beginning in 2013.  Stands were prioritized for harvesting by net present value, with periodic acreage targets defined for each alternative.

Results

As expected, the 45 year rotation alternatives had significantly higher net present value compared to alternatives with 65, 75, and 110 year rotations.   However, for all alternatives, the inital age class distribution impacted the availability of harvestable timber during the first 15 years.  With the majority of acres less than 35 years old, an insufficient number of acres were above the minimum harvest age prior to year 2028.  The results informed the nomination potential for the particular property analyzed but also highlighted a common challenge facing conservation organizations attempting to conserve previously intensively managed private forest land.

Deliverables

Report prepared for Greater Peninsula Conservancy