Chelan County is exploring the building of a forest products campus that will harvest timber from overburdened Central Washington forests and produce lumber products for market, in turn improving forest health and preventing wildfires. Learn more about this innovative and unique idea from the people leading the effort. Video by North 40 Productions.
Forest Products Campus
Current Progress: Forest Products Campus Summit
On Nov. 30, 2023, about 70 people interested in decreasing wildfire risk, improving forest health and building the local economy gathered to learn the results of a study to determine the feasibility of establishing a Forest Products Campus within Chelan County. Presentations were given by leading experts from industry, government, economic development and community organizations.
Key outcomes of the summit include:
Comprehensive wood supply assessment conducted by Mason, Bruce, & Girard, Inc., found that at least 153 million to 448 million board feet of timber is accessible in Chelan, Kittitas and Okanogan counties over the next 20 years.
Site feasibility assessment conducted by private consultancy, Perteet, found that there are numerous industrial sites suitable for a forest products campus under existing zoning and land use laws in Chelan County.
Public agencies, including the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, are committed to sustaining available wood supply.
Background: 'Chelan County is highest risk community in state for potential wildfire damage'
Chelan County encompasses a mosaic of forests, mountains and waterways. It also has been identified in numerous risk assessments as facing disproportionately more wildfire risk than nearly all of Washington state and the western United States.
"Chelan County is the highest risk community in the state for potential wildfire damage. This has been a problem in the making for a century, and reducing that risk is costly. A local forest products campus would increase the pace and scale of forest health treatment activity while reducing fire risk and creating jobs and economic activity in our community.” – Mike Kaputa, director of Chelan County Natural Resources
The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest was recently designated a National Priority Landscape, one of only 21 in the United States, underlining the heightened risk in the area. In recognition of this risk, and as a result of the recent designation, federal and state partners have pledged more than $100,000,000 investment in fuels reduction and wildfire risk mitigation projects over the next decade through the Central Washington Initiative.
Chelan County is working to attract new forest products businesses and biomass utilization infrastructure to North Central Washington. Establishing wood products infrastructure is a pivotal step in ensuring the infusion of public funds today will translate into long-term stewardship of these fire-dependent forest ecosystems for generations to come.
Under a grant from the U. Forest Service, Natural Resources and a team of consultants is developing a comprehensive design for an engineered sawmill, biomass and mass timber facility that would process small dimension logs thinned from the local forest.
Posted: 01/03/2024 05:10 PM
Last Updated: 01/04/2024 10:54 AM
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The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
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By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
PLEASE NOTE: FTP browsing is no longer supported on the latest browsers, please refer below to acccess our FTP content.
Popular Browsers
Supported
Microsoft Edge
NO
Google Chrome
NO
Safari
NO
Internet Explorer 11
YES
Mozilla Firefox
YES
Opera
YES
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
The information contained on this site is provided as a courtesy of the Chelan County. Where it exists, the "Index.txt" will contain a brief explanation of files contained in this folder
Chelan County makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on its web site. However, due to the possibility of transmission errors, HTML browser capabilities, changes made since the last update to the site, etc., neither Chelan County, nor any agency, officer or employee of Chelan County warrants the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information published by this system and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this system does so at his or her own risk.
By clicking continue, you confirm that you have read, understood and agreed to this disclaimer.
