Washington Forest Practices Board to decide on plan that would take hundreds of thousands of acres of working forests out of production without benefitting fish, setting precedent that could also devastate crop farming
A new proposal targeting farm forestry in Western Washington could set a devastating precedent for the entire WA farming community.
The state Forest Practices Board wants to force unjustified and unscientific new standards for forest buffers on non-fish-bearing perennial ‘Type Np’ streams. But this proposal does not reflect credible scientific consensus. It is a politically motivated departure from the principles of the Forests & Fish Law and the Adaptive Management Program—both of which were designed to ensure that science, not ideology, drives environmental policy.
Current practices have already achieved significant environmental gains, and there is no scientific evidence that additional buffers on ‘Type Np’ streams (where no fish are present and no documented water quality issues exist) will improve fish recovery or enhance habitat. The proposed rule not only fails to improve outcomes—it actively undermines them.
Despite having little to no benefit for fish, the rule would remove 4-8% of the 2023 private forest harvest–equivalent to 1-2 sawmills, 2,000 jobs, and lumber for up to 15,000 homes per year. It would effectively sideline over 200,000 acres of private forestland with no compensation. Rural communities–already under economic stress–would face additional hardship, as school funding, community services, and local economies depend heavily on the viability of our forest and farming sectors. Experts estimate the potential overall economic impact at $5-8 billion.
“The proposed rule is inequitable, unsustainable, and contrary to the collaborative spirit of forest policy known as the ‘Washington Way,’” reads a new letter to Gov. Ferguson and several top state agency heads from a growing coalition led by top state farming groups.
Not only would the plan crush the small family foresters stewarding much of the region’s forestlands, but the politically-motivated move would set a precedent that threatens hundreds of thousands more acres of farmland across Western Washington’s lowlands.
“This is a backdoor attack on our state’s agricultural future, setting a precedent that could soon return with full force to directly target family farms,” said Ben Tindall, Save Family Farming’s Executive Director. “The motivation behind this rule appears to be not sound science, but the advancement of an extremist agenda by individuals who have managed to gain influence over a critical regulatory body. While efforts to harm agriculture through direct legislative or regulatory action on stream buffers have failed, it seems the tactic has shifted to targeting forestry–one of the most interconnected allies of farming in rural Washington.”
Press Contact: Dillon Honcoop, dhoncoop@savefamilyfarming.org