Forest producers in western Washington face unpredictable and challenging conditions in their timber stands, which are over-stocked and increasingly at risk of wildfire, drought, insect infestation, and climate variability. To increase resiliency in the face of these risks, producers can reduce stand densities in their forests by removing low-value suppressed trees, making soil moisture and nutrients more available for the remaining dominant trees. This reduces producers’ exposure to climate risks and sets them up to achieve their economic objectives.
Previous funded partnerships have helped 430 producers undertake activities that improve the resiliency of their forests. However, a high percentage of producers whose forests face unanticipated risks in a changing climate lack the information, financial resources, and skills necessary to take action. This project aimed to reach those producers.
Through this project, NNRG and partners built on previous work to engage 114 unique forest producers through 3 workshops, 2 technical chainsaw safety and use trainings, and 49 technical assistance site visits and consultations. Producers who attended our three all-day risk reduction workshops learned how to identify the various ecological risks facing their forests, how thinning young, suppressed, small-diameter trees can reduce those risks by spreading available soil moisture and nutrients among fewer trees, and how to select trees for thinning. Producers who attended our two 2-day chainsaw safety trainings taught by a certified SAWW instructor learned how to safely operate and maintain a chainsaw, and how to safely do small-diameter thinning in their own woods. As a result, those producers can now conduct risk reduction thinnings in their forests without needing to pay for an external contractor. Our 49 technical assistance site visits guided forest producers who wish to create forest management plans and helped them understand their options for applying for cost-share funding through the Natural Resource Conservation Service's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). As a result of our workshops, trainings, and site visits, forests in western Washington will experience reduced risk and diminished timber crop losses.