Wash. — Forestland owners in Washington can relieve some stress about the safety of their property during wildfire season through a Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) financial program that helps protect forestland on privately owned land.
According to DNR, non-industrial forestland owners can get financial assistance to help maintain the health and safety of the forest on their private property. DNR’s financial assistance program for wildfire resilience and forest help, or the cost-share program, helps landowners in Washington have a financially secure and technical plan for managing the forest.
This program is one step closer to preventing debris and flammable vegetation from fueling a potential wildfire. According to the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), financial and technical assistance can achieve goals to enhance wildlife habitat, provide recreational opportunities, harvest more forest products and improve forest health for water quality. To maintain a long-term healthy forest, landowners need to provide regular maintenance. However, financial funds are not always available to get the job done. Over time, the lack of maintenance gives a small wildfire the fuel it needs to spread rapidly.
Forested areas across Washington require treatments to fend off wildfires, insect infestation, and diseases that threaten local trees and other vegetation. According to DNR’s Financial Assistance Program, they offer free consultations to assess wildfire and forest health risks and how much it will cost to prevent damage. To qualify for financial aid, you must be a non-federal forest landowner with less than 5,000 acres.
According to the official DNR website, the agency does not have the resources to do the actual work of caring for the forest, but it will cover a portion of the cost. Landowners can hire someone to do the work or use the funds to complete the job themselves.
In Eastern Washington, forestland owners in the northeast can contact ne_loa@dnr.wa.gov, and those in the southeast can email Emily Torrance-Smith at Emily.Torrance-Smith@dnr.wa.gov or call 509-856-5608, or Al Lawson, district manager, at Alan.Lawson@dnr.wa.gov. Landowners can also send documents to DNRRESELOA@dnr.wa.gov.
According to the DNR website, landowners in Western Washington are to contact the following:
Olympic Region (Clallam, Jefferson and Grays Harbor Counties north of the Chehalis River and west of Elma), email Gary Bell, district manager, at gary.bell@dnr.wa.gov.Northwest Region (Whatcom, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Island and northeast King Counties (Highway 2 Corridor) Region DNR), email Gene Phillips, district manager, at gene.phillips@dnr.wa.gov.South Puget Sound Region (King, except NE King County, Pierce, Kitsap, Mason Thurston and eastern Grays Harbor east of Elma and Chehalis River), email Matt Axe, district manager, at matthew.axe@dnr.wa.gov. Pacific Cascade Region (Lewis, Grays Harbor south and west of Chehalis River, Pacific, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, Clark and Skamania west of the Dog Mountain trailhead), email Dan Friesz, district manager at daniel.friesz@dnr.wa.gov.
