- ACCD Board Meeting - Thursday, September 10 at 6PM
- ACNWCB Weed Board - Board Meeting - Tuesday, October 20 at 6 pm
- Conservation is for everyone!
Fuel-reduction treatments and community FireWise programs have been proven to reduce wildfire hazards and the potential for catastrophic fire events, improve forest resiliency, and reduce damage to infrastructure. The Asotin County Conservation District began our Forest Stewardship Program in 2020 to support small-acreage forest owners who often do not have access to technical resources or financial resources needed to successfully manage their forest.
Interested in our program?? Email: [email protected], or call us at (509)552-8117 for more information.
Our forester and conservation planners are ready to help you evaluate your forestland, explore your land management options, and provide you with education and resources to manage your forestland successfully into the future. We offer free, on-site assessments of forestland and natural resources, available to all Asotin County residents, landowners, and land managers. Give us a call today to schedule your free site-visit!
Forest Stewardship Plans (aka: Forest Management Plans) are essential for forestland owners regardless of your primary land use. Whether you are a planning a commercial timber harvest, preventing wildfire, or simply enjoying the wildlife on your back porch, stewardship plans help landowners achieve their goals and maintain forest health and resilience.
We work with private forestland landowners to offer any available financial assistance in managing forestland and reducing wildfire hazards. Our program targets small acreage landowners (<40 Acres) for cost-share assistance. Once a landowner expresses interest in wildfire resilience and/or forest management, we complete a site visit, provide forest stewardship planning assistance, and help connect you with any available funding we can find! Financial assistance may also be available through agency partners including: Washington Department of Natural Resources (WA DNR), and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). ACCD staff are happy to refer our clients to partner agencies to ensure our community members are connected to any and all available resources.
Forests and the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) intersect across Asotin County, and our forestland communities are facing extreme wildfire hazards that threaten our infrastructure as well as our valuable forests. Our technicians are trained in helping landowners understand their unique wildfire hazards, and providing solutions to help mitigate the risks throughout our communities. ACCD has funding available to complete assessments and to host Wildfire Ready Neighbors and FireWise Workshops at no charge to our landowners and residents.
When forest stands become overstocked, the young trees compete ruthlessly for water and nutrients and over-grow their space. Dense stands of unhealthy trees are more likely to burn catastrophically, while a thinned forest can withstand wildfire with a few trees left uninjured. Forest management is NOT one-size-fits-all, and site-specific planning can improve your forest health, preserve your privacy, create wildlife habitat, reduce wildfire risks and create wildfire resilience in your forest.
The primary practices used for wildfire resilience in Asotin County forests:
Ecosystem services provide immeasurable benefits to humans. Forests provide wildlife habitat, clean air, clean water, productive soils, recreational opportunities, cultural resources, and economic benefits. The Northern Blue Mountains sit at the headwaters of critical watersheds, and supply our streams and rivers with clean, cold water. Regardless of proximity to the forest, the impacts of poor forest health and catastrophic wildfire events affect the entire community as well as connected ecosystems. Addressing forest health and wildfire resilience will support economic and social benefits by increasing ecosystem resilience.
Forestland communities throughout the Asotin County are experiencing an extreme risk of catastrophic wildfire in tandem with a loss of forest resilience and productivity. Repeated drought conditions, pest and pathogen outbreaks, large swaths of dead and dying trees, and inconsistent forest management have led to a negative-loop cycle of hazardous buildup of wildfire fuels. Homes, cabins, evacuation routes, and utilities are threatened by encroaching conifers and increased mortality, further compounding the extreme wildfire risk across this community. Private forestlands are generally small acreage parcels with little to no timber value, making forest management expensive, often unfeasible.
