- ACCD Board Meeting - Thursday, February 5 at 12PM
- ACNWCB Weed Board - Board Meeting - Tuesday, February 3 at 1 pm
Over 85 Years of Conservation
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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.
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.
ACCD provides on-site assistance and conservation planning for residents, landowners, and land managers in Asotin County. Our District has been active in collaboration with: WADNR, USFS, NRCS, local governments, utility companies, emergency managers, local contractors, and community members while building our Forest Health and Community Wildfire Resilience Program. Financial assistance (cost-share) may be available for wildfire mitigation and forest stewardship activities.
Interested in our program?? Email: [email protected], or call us at (509)552-8117 for more information.
We have forestry technicians and conservation planners ready to help you evaluate your forestland, and provide you with education and resources to manage your land successfully into the future. Available to all Asotin County residents, landowners, and land managers, give us a call today to schedule your free site-visit.
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.
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. Factors including: site-potential, annual precipitation, soil depth, wildlife presence, infrastructure, emergency accessibility, and privacy concerns are not one-size-fits-all. Site-specific planning can reduce wildfire risks and increase wildfire resilience while maintaining both human and ecosystem values.
The primary practices used for wildfire resilience in Asotin County forests:
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. Forest management plans include an assessment of your unique site conditions, and provide a “road map” of treatments and prescriptions which consider your personal forestry goals over time. ACCD forestry staff are available to assist with Forest Stewardship Planning for Asotin County residents and landowners.
The Asotin County Conservation District forestry program works with private forestland landowners to offer technical and financial assistance in managing their forestland health and reducing their wildfire risks. Our program targets small acreage landowners (<40 Acres) for cost-share assistance as disproportionate costs of forest management activities on small parcels are often financially unfeasible for landowners. Once a landowner expresses interest in wildfire resilience and/or forest management, we complete a site visit and follow up by initiating outreach to surrounding parcels. Collaborating with neighbors has been a successful technique in expanding the efficacy of wildfire mitigation and increasing safety for communities.
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 all available resources.
