Small forest landowners urge policy fixes to keep family forests intact, boost fire resilience

Nora Burns, speaking for the Washington Farm Forestry Association, told the Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks Committee on Oct. 12 that "Washington's 218,000 small forest landowners own nearly 15% of Washington's forests," and that many sit lower in watersheds and inside the wildland-urban interface.

The association used a committee work session to highlight two family-owned tree farms and to map policy needs that members say would help small forest landowners keep property in forestry use. "Development pressure, wildfire, and other natural disasters and taxes are top concerns for small forest landowners," Burns said, summarizing findings from University of Washington research cited to the committee.

Why it matters: small family forests provide drinking-water protection, wildlife habitat, recreation and local economic activity, but landowners say climate stressors and regulatory gaps are increasing the risk that parcels will be converted to non-forest uses.

Anne Stinson, a second-generation owner of the 320-acre Cowlitz Ridge Tree Farm in South Lewis County, described field-level changes since the 2021 heat dome: older western red cedar are "dying top down," newly planted cedar are…