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Forestry groups, small‑forest owners offer summer tours and model harvest practices to committee
Summary
Representatives from Weyerhaeuser, the Washington Forest Protection Association, the American Forest Resource Council, the Washington Farm Forestry Association and Coburg Tree Farm invited the committee to tour working forests, tree farms and restoration projects to see harvest, riparian protection and restoration work.
Multiple forestry stakeholders asked the committee April 2 to use the interim to tour timberlands, tree farms and restoration projects so members could see forest‑health, harvest and restoration practices across ownership types.
Lede: Tom Davis of the Washington Forest Protection Association said the Forest and Fish law led to major investments in forest roads, culverts and buffer protections and invited the committee to visit state and private forest lands to see results. Heath Heiko of the American Forest Resource Council urged members to “lean into” their trustee responsibilities for DNR state trust land and invited tours of mills and the Capital State Forest.
Nut graf: Panelists said on‑the‑ground tours help legislators evaluate tradeoffs among timber production, habitat protection and recreation, and help the legislature design programs that support sustainable forestry, local mills and wildfire resilience.
Details from witnesses: Mary Catherine McAleer of Weyerhaeuser described the company’s scale and a range of sites available for visits — seed orchards, nurseries, tree farms (including fast‑growing coastal stands), mills in Raymond and Longview and export yards — and offered the committee its Forest Learning Center (focused on Mount St. Helens) as a visit site. She said Weyerhaeuser manages just over 1 million acres and harvests about 2% annually.
Dave Townsend of Coburg Tree Farm described a family‑owned operation certified under the American Tree Farm System since 1955. He described a 13‑unit management strategy in which the farm rotates harvest and replanting on a multi‑year schedule and invited the committee for a walk in the woods. Townsend and Dr. Elaine O’Neil of the Washington Farm Forestry Association emphasized the role of small private owners — about 218,000 small forest landowners statewide — and noted pressures from development, taxes and wildfire.
Why it matters: Committee members said seeing diverse ownerships and management approaches would inform policy on forest health, wildfire mitigation, mill supply chains and the economics of working forests.
Ending: Panelists left the committee with offers to arrange multiple site visits across western and eastern Washington, including private tree farms, state forest holdings and federal restoration projects.
