A first look at timber harvests across Whatcom County: where they are, when they
were approved, and how the process works. From Washington's public records, in plain language.
Each colored shape is an area approved for harvest.
Tap a shape for details and a link to DNR's record.
How a harvest works
Filing. A landowner, or a forester working for them, files a Forest Practices
Application with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). It describes the
area, the harvest method, any new roads, and how streams and steep slopes will be protected.
Review. DNR reviews it. For the permits on this map, approval came about
a month after filing (the typical time). Lower-impact work is a simple notification;
sites with sensitive slopes or habitat get extra environmental review.
The permit window. An approval usually lasts three years.
Cutting can happen any time in that window: all at once, in stages, or sometimes not at all. So a
shape on this map means approved, not necessarily cut yet.
After the harvest. Washington requires replanting after a clearcut, and
after a partial cut that removes half or more of the timber; a clearcut must be satisfactorily
restocked within three years (WAC 222-34-010).
Regrowth. Forests here grow fast. Many working forests are harvested again
after several decades.
Types of harvest
These are DNR's categories. Even-aged and uneven-aged describe the
forest that grows back, not the cutting itself; the definitions come from state rules (WAC 222-16-010).
Even-aged harvest (mostly clearcuts)
Removes most or all of the trees at once, so the new forest grows back all one age. Mostly
clearcuts ("the entire stand of trees is removed in one timber harvesting
operation"), but the state's definition also covers seed-tree and shelterwood cuts that leave
20 or fewer trees per acre, and other cuts leaving very few trees. The most common type here.
Partial cut (uneven-aged)
Removes a portion of the timber and leaves a well-spread stand of healthy trees of mixed ages.
The forest canopy largely stays.
Salvage
Removal of dead, dying or downed trees, such as snags and wind-thrown timber, for example after
a storm, fire or disease.
Road right-of-way
Clearing for a forest road, usually alongside another harvest.
Who owns the land
Types of owner
Washington sorts private forest owners by how much timber they harvest, not
by how much land they own. The line is set in state law (RCW 76.09.450): 2 million board feet a
year. (A board foot is a piece of wood one foot square and one inch thick.)
Small forest owners
Owners who harvested no more than an average of 2 million board feet a year over the
previous three years, and who expect to stay under that average for the next ten. This
is the state's "small forest landowner" category, recorded on each application. It's about
harvest, not land or business size: some are sizable local companies, but most are families and
local owners, often our neighbors. That's why this page doesn't name them. Each harvest on the
map links to DNR's own record, which does.
Large forest owners
Private owners above that line: more than 2 million board feet a year on
average. Mostly timber companies. (The state has no single name for this group; "large forest
owners" is this site's.) The largest here: ….
State land (DNR)
Forest land managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), mostly
state trust land, where timber sales help fund public schools, universities and counties.
Owner not listed
DNR's data has no landowner recorded for these applications.
Largest named owners
Harvest areas, not whole properties. A landowner owns the land;
the timber owner owns the trees (often the same company); the operator does the cutting.
Would you use this?
This is an early first version. If it's useful, or you'd like it to show more about the land
around you (history, rivers and watersheds, trails, protected land), leave your email.