DNR launches landowner assistance tool
The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has released a new web platform designed to help private landowners navigate the array of resources offered by the agency and partner organizations to help them manage their forests now and for future generations.
The Landowner Assistance Portal is a collaborative effort between the Forest Resilience and Forest Regulations divisions of DNR. Many of the most popular programs offered or administered by the agency for private landowners — including financial and technical assistance for fuels reduction, wildlife stewardship, and wildfire preparedness — reside in one or both of those divisions.
The Landowner Assistance Portal brings all of those resources under one umbrella to provide a one-stop shop experience. Users will find 34 of the most common subjects sorted into four categories: Resources for Managing My Forest, Keeping My Forest Healthy, Education and Training, and Permits and Regulations.
Landowners can use the simple interface to locate to the information they need to take care of their forests.
To view the Landowner Assistance Portal, visit www.dnr.wa.gov/LandownerAssistancePortal.
Comments sought on USFS ‘danger tree’ project
The U.S. Forest Service is seeking comments on its proposed Danger Tree Felling and Removal project, whose primary focus is reducing the risk of danger trees along 452 miles of roads in the Chelan, Cle Elum, Methow Valley and Naches Ranger Districts, with fuels reduction as a secondary objective. The 45-day comment period started Sept. 18.
The project proposes treatments across a 17,102-acre landscape, according to a Forest Service press release. Treatment options selected are cut-and-leave, cut leave/pile/burn, and selective commercial harvest.
Treatments will be timed to ensure compliance with the Endangered Species Act as well as soil project design criteria and designed to minimize stream sedimentation, the Forest Service said, and will be limited to visibly dead trees. No trees with green needles will be targeted for treatment.
The project’s final Environmental Assessment and other related documents are available at www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=62402.
The documents are also available at the Methow Valley Ranger District in Winthrop for inspection during regular business hours (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.). Call (509) 996‑4000 to schedule an appointment.
