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Forestry groups invite House Ag & Natural Resources Committee for summer tours; small forest landowner concerns highlighted
Summary
Weyerhaeuser, the Washington Forest Protection Association, the American Forest Resource Council, and small-landowner advocates invited the committee to summer tours; Coburg Tree Farm won the 2024 National Outstanding Tree Farmer award and offered to host visits.
Representatives from major forest companies, industry associations and small private landowners urged the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee to use the interim to tour working forests and review forest-health and small-landowner programs.
Tom Davis of the Washington Forest Protection Association highlighted the Forests & Fish law and the habitat conservation planning that followed, and offered tours on private and state forest lands across western and northeastern Washington. Heath Heiko of the American Forest Resource Council requested committee attention to the management of state trust lands, including the Capital State Forest and collaborative restoration projects on federal lands.
Mary Catherine McAleer of Weyerhaeuser described the company’s scale—“just over a million acres” of ownership in Washington—and the company’s vertically integrated operations, including seed orchards, nurseries, tree farms and mills. She invited committee members to visit tree farms, mills and Weyerhaeuser’s Forest Learning Center focused on Mount St. Helens restoration.
Dr. Elaine O’Neil of the Washington Farm Forestry Association and Dave Townsend of Coburg Tree Farm described the role of small forest landowners and noted that Coburg was the 2024 national tree farmer of the year. Townsend said the family-managed property is the ninth-oldest continuously certified tree farm in Washington and invited the committee for a site visit to demonstrate long-term sustainable management techniques.
Speakers emphasized that on-the-ground tours help lawmakers see the diversity of products and the role of active management, buffer and riparian protections, restoration, and small-landowner challenges such as development pressure, wildfire risk and tax concerns. Several groups requested summer site visits to illustrate log supply diversity, restoration projects, and federal-state cooperative work.
Ending: Multiple forestry interests invited the committee for summer tours and offered to host staff and lawmakers to show forest management, mills, and restoration projects across the state.
