WAC 222-22-010   Policy.  *(1) Public resources may be adversely affected by the interaction of two or more forest practices. The purpose of this rule is to address these cumulative effects of forest practices on the public resources of fish, water, and capital improvements of the state or its political subdivisions.

     (2) Cultural resources may also be adversely affected by the interaction of two or more forest practices. The purpose of this rule is also to achieve management and protection of these cultural resources by fostering cooperative relationships and agreements between landowners and tribes.

     *(3) The long-term objective of this rule is to protect and restore these public and cultural resources and the productive capacity of fish habitat adversely affected by forest practices while maintaining a viable forest products industry. For public resources, the board intends that this be accomplished through prescriptions designed to protect and allow the recovery of fish, water, and capital improvements of the state or its political subdivisions, through enforcement against noncompliance of the forest practices rules in this Title 222 WAC, and through voluntary mitigation measures. For cultural resources, with the exception of sites registered on the department of archaeology and historic preservation's archaeological and historic sites data base and all resources that require mandatory protection under chapters 27.44 and 27.53 RCW, the board intends that this be accomplished through voluntary management strategies. This system also allows for monitoring, subsequent watershed analysis, and adaptive management.

     *(4) Adaptive management in a watershed analysis process requires advances in technology and cooperation among resource managers. The board finds that it is appropriate to promulgate rules to address certain cumulative effects by means of the watershed analysis system, while recognizing the pioneering nature of this system and the need to monitor its success in predicting and preventing adverse change to fish, water, and capital improvements of the state and its political subdivisions. The board supports the use of voluntary, cooperative approaches to address impacts to cultural resources. If voluntary approaches are shown to be ineffective, the board may find it appropriate to seek additional protection to prevent adverse impacts to cultural resources.

     *(5) Many factors other than forest practices can have a significant effect on the condition of fish, water, capital improvements of the state or its political subdivisions, and cultural resources. Nonforest practice contributions to cumulative effects should be addressed by the appropriate jurisdictional authorities. When a watershed analysis identifies a potential adverse effect on fish, water, capital improvements of the state or its political subdivisions, or cultural resources from activities that are not regulated under chapter 76.09 RCW, the department should notify any governmental agency or Indian tribe having jurisdiction over those activities.

     *(6) The rules in this chapter set forth a system for identifying the probability of change and the likelihood of this change adversely affecting specific characteristics of fish, water, and capital improvements of the state or its political subdivisions, and for using forest management prescriptions to avoid or minimize significant adverse effects from forest practices. In addition, the rules in this chapter set forth a system for identifying the likelihood of adverse change affecting cultural resources and for developing voluntary management strategies to avoid or minimize significant adverse impacts to cultural resources. The rules in this chapter are in addition to, and do not take the place of, the other forest practices rules in this Title 222 WAC or laws for the protection of cultural resources including chapters 27.44 and 27.53 RCW.

     *(7) These rules are intended to be applied and should be construed in such a manner as to minimize the delay associated with the review of individual forest practices applications and notifications by increasing the predictability of the process and the appropriate management response.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 76.09.040. 05-12-119, § 222-22-010, filed 5/31/05, effective 7/1/05. Statutory Authority: RCW 76.09.040, 76.09.170 and chapter 34.05 RCW. 94-01-134, § 222-22-010, filed 12/20/93, effective 1/1/94. Statutory Authority: RCW 76.09.040, 76.09.050 and chapter 34.05 RCW. 92-15-011, § 222-22-010, filed 7/2/92, effective 8/2/92.]