Fish and wildlife biologist Brett Haverkamp can make site visits to help small forest landowners understand streams on their property. He also assists with regulations for thinning projects.
Free assistance with ecological practices
As the snow melts, trees bud, and streams start to flow, many people who own small forests begin thinking about how to keep their forests healthy in the long term.
The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) now has a fish and wildlife biologist who provides free assistance to help owners protect and promote the ecological and economic viability of their forestlands.
Brent Haverkamp, who started in that position last year and is based in the Methow Valley, helps small-forest landowners across the state with regulations, technical matters and applications.
The Small Forest Landowner Office plays a key role in achieving one of DNR’s primary goals — keeping forested land in forestry. Without adequate support and management, these forests could be cut and the land converted to development, DNR Forest Practices Communications Manager Natalie Johnson said.
DNR provides two main types of assistance to forest owners. A regulation assistant like Haverkamp helps people follow the rules if they want to thin their trees. A service forester helps with long-term forest management and health. Although there is some overlap, regulation assistants focus on rules for forest practices such as harvesting or thinning, while service foresters specialize in management strategies and long-term planning, Johnson said.
Caring for a forest can be complex, and the regulations can be hard for people to understand, particularly because many landowners will harvest their forest only once.
People don’t need to manage their forests for tree harvest — they can do it simply because they like the trees and want to provide habitat for birds and other wildlife, Johnson said.
Many forest owners value the land for the peacefulness it provides. They can choose to manage for songbirds, fish, deer or wildflowers. Some preserve the land as an investment for future generations. Forest owners who harvest their timber can also prioritize habitat. A survey from a DNR specialist can help quantify those values and achieve those goals.
Anyone planning work on a small forest must complete a formal application. “The Forest Practices Application is long and confusing,” and many forest owners don’t have the ability to create a computerized map, Haverkamp said. Having input from a professional can help ensure that an application won’t be rejected because of errors, he said.
Other projects, such as thinning to prevent wildfire or removing dead trees and replanting after a fire, also typically require a permit.
Large forest owners (such as Weyerhaeuser) have lots of resources to hire experts, but small-forest owners — for example, someone who owns 5 to 10 acres of forested land on the Twisp River — could be disproportionately affected by the complexity of the rules. DNR’s assistance programs, which are completely voluntary, are designed to help these smaller owners, Johnson said.
Learning about streams
If there’s any type of stream on the property, it affects the work the owner can do. Haverkamp specializes in the requirements for preserving riparian areas, streams and wetlands, including creating setbacks and buffers around the water body. The regulations allow landowners to manage their forestland while maintaining water quality and habitat in riparian areas, Johnson said.
Although DNR has detailed maps and stream classifications on its website, they are quite technical. Haverkamp is available to do an on-the-ground assessment to determine if a stream provides fish passage or habitat, and if the stream flows year-round or is seasonal.
Other considerations in preserving a healthy forest and streams include keeping large amounts of sediment from collecting in the stream and allowing trees to fall near waterways, since woody debris creates pools and protected refuges for fish, Haverkamp said. The aim is to preserve streams for all types of fish, not only endangered species, he said.
Small-forest landowners
Since so much land in Okanogan County is shrub-steppe or prairie, the county accounts for just 6% of the small-forest landowner acreage statewide, with about 380,000 acres on 9,600 parcels owned by more than 5,000 individuals.
In the Methow watershed, small forests exist on 31,300 acres on almost 1,200 parcels, with 851 property owners. The majority own less than 20 acres. Only nine property owners in the county own more than 5,000 acres of forestland, none in the Methow Valley, Johnson said.
There are about 53,500 small forest landowners in all of eastern Washington.
Other DNR programs provide technical and financial assistance for forest-health projects, long-term management, and wildfire resiliency.
People can get information about DNR’s assistance programs at https://www.dnr.wa.gov/LandownerAssistancePortal.
