Committee agrees to keep current forest zones as stumpage valuations are updated

A committee convened to review Dr. Jackson’s reports and the current four forest zones agreed to keep the existing zone assignments unchanged for the upcoming stumpage-value reappraisal cycle, and asked staff to circulate a meeting recap so absent members can submit input.

The decision was procedural: members said they saw no compelling reason to reassign counties now, but asked modelers and staff to ensure recent market changes and tax-law shifts are reflected as valuations are developed. "We rely on your input," said Scott Mendenhall, deputy director, thanking committee volunteers for their work and noting the agency has brought some analysis in-house to save money.

Why it matters: the zone assignments feed into stumpage-value calculations that affect how forest land is valued for taxation. Committee members flagged two developments that could affect valuations: structural changes in log markets after recent mill closures and the state agency's decision to separate ponderosa-pine saw logs into a distinct stumpage rate.

"The DNRC has actually done something new, and they've broken ponderosa pine out as a separate stumpage rate," a committee member said, noting that the limited market for ponderosa and distance-to-market have driven that move. Jared Isaac of Taxbot Research, who runs the valuation model, said shipping costs are captured elsewhere in the model but that zones are intended to group counties with similar market characteristics. "Yes. I would say the the shipping costs are captured elsewhere in the model," he said.

Members also discussed recent property-tax law changes passed in the last legislative session, which include phased impacts in 2025 and 2026 that lower rates for primary residents and prioritize certain long-term rentals. "There's a lot going on in property tax, with the new laws that passed in the last session," Scott Mendenhall said, and he urged the committee to be aware of how shifts across tax classes could reallocate tax burdens and indirectly affect forest owners. Staff said they do not yet have tax changes isolated by tax class but can prepare county-by-county taxable-value change estimates and try to assemble class-10 (noncommercial forest land) specific analysis.

The committee asked staff to prepare a short recap listing members present and the recommendation of no zone changes at this time, invite input from the four absent members, and incorporate DNRC’s ponderosa-pine rate separation into the valuation model as appropriate. The group plans a fuller review of stumpage valuations in early to mid-spring, when updated numbers will be presented and the ponderosa-pine issue can be revisited if needed.