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Clark County wetland staff: predeterminations and mitigation can shape forestry conversions
Summary
Wetland Habitat Review staff outlined how the county assesses critical areas at time of conversion, cautioned that maps are not comprehensive, recommended predeterminations (binding for five years) prior to FPAs, and explained that county mitigation requirements can exceed state replanting standards.
Lance White of Clark County Wetland and Habitat Review told attendees the county's wetland habitat ordinance requires staff to determine existing critical‑area conditions at the time of any authorized forest conversion and to assess functions and values of wetlands and priority habitats.
"Our wetland habitat ordinance requires that we go by the actual ground versus what we have mapped in GIS," White said, urging property visits and predeterminations when mapped resources appear near proposed clearing. He described wetlands per the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers delineation method — hydric soils, a hydrology source and wetland‑adapted vegetation — and said buffer widths and mitigation are set based on wetland quality and the proposed level of development.
White advised landowners to use the county's maps online and GIS portal for desk reviews but cautioned these tools are not comprehensive and may miss unmapped critical areas. To avoid delays, he recommended completing a county predetermination before applying for an FPA; the predetermination includes a site visit, formal report and mapping, can be added to forestry and building plans, and is binding on the county for five years.
On mitigation, White said county wetland habitat reviewers can require restoration or compensatory mitigation for converted lands and that mitigation may account for temporal loss when reforestation is not yet complete. He noted that county standards can be stricter than state DNR requirements — for example the state may require 190 trees per acre, whereas county critical‑area rules may require planting 300 stems per acre — and that county mitigation can in some cases exceed twice the timber value for impacts within critical areas.
White also noted that class 4 general conversions undergo SEPA review, which may prompt additional agency requests (including formal wetland delineations), and that development engineering may impose stormwater or slope conditions.
He closed by directing listeners to online guidance, forms and application links and offering county contact information for interpretation of maps and to request predetermination site visits.
