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SUBJECTS › ENVIRONMENT › Forest Practices
Updated 5/03

Forest Practices Act

Contents

Introduction

This page provides information about Washington's Forest Practices Act. The Forest Practices Act, originally adopted in 1974, is found in chapter 76.09 RCW. This page focuses particularly on recent amendments (SSB 5714) that transfer a portion of the Department of Natural Resources' (DNR's) responsibility for administration and enforcement of forest practices regulation to local governments.

Forest practices are activities related to growing, harvesting, or processing timber, including, but not limited to, road construction and maintenance, thinning, salvage, harvesting, reforestation, brush control, and using fertilizers or pesticides, according to a recent DNR publication. These practices are regulated by the Washington Forest Practices Act and its corresponding rules, found in Chapters 222-08 WAC through 222-50 WAC, promulgated by DNR. For background information and a brief summary of the SSB 5714 amendments, see the Final Bill Report, SSB 5714 - Synopsis. Free copies of Forest Practices Illustrated are available from the Department of Natural Resources.

Cities and counties must adopt ordinances or regulations setting standards for Class IV  forest practices regulated by local government by December 31, 2005 as required by RC 76.09.240.  The Department of Natural Resources will provide technical assistance to local governments that have adopted and assumed authority over all Class IV forest practices within their jurisdiction until January 1, 2006.

The Court of appeals held in Berst v. Snohomish County that the county should have held a hearing before imposing a 6-year moratorium under the FPA. In addition, the court held that the imposition of a moratorium was not a "land use decision" under LUPA.

If you have information to share (such as ordinances, issue papers, policies) from your city or county on this topic, or are aware of other web sites that we should link to, please contact Sue Enger, MRSC Planning Consultant, at senger@mrsc.org, or simply press the "Comments" button to contact MRSC in general via E-mail. We also invite any suggestions you may have for improvements and additional topics.

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