Social distancing and stay-home orders won’t prevent the Washington State University Extension Forestry program from fulfilling its mission to educate and provide research-based information for small-forest landowners. WSU Extension Forestry has launched a series of online webinars and began offering the free classes in May. The one-hour sessions have been… Read more

Forestry has always been about the future and taking a long-viewed approach. By the very nature of what they do, the stewards of sustainably managed working forests must plan decades ahead since it can take a half-century before the saplings planted today are harvested. Encapsulating the forward-looking mindset of working… Read more

The coronavirus is having a profound impact on the state’s ability to plan for this year’s wildfire season. In otherwise normal times, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recruit seasonal firefighters and lays the groundwork for wildfire response in early spring. But, a KING-TV story reports that activities like wildfire… Read more

Above: Sierra Pacific Industries’ Burlington Mill has a cogeneration power plant that uses wood residuals created during the milling process to create steam heat and electricity.    A Skagit County lumber mill will soon be a clean energy source for thousands of Puget Sound Energy’s(PSE) customers. PSE announced in March… Read more

The journey to a Washington Working Forest specialty license plate took its first important steps in the recently completed 2020 State Legislature. The process to go from idea to an actual, official state license plate is a long and complicated one. The culminating event is the passage of a bill… Read more

The coronavirus pandemic has impacted every person in Washington state. Social distancing, stay-home orders and the closure of non-essential businesses have modified how we now live, work and recreate in profound ways. Sheltering in place also has significantly impacted consumer habits. Generally speaking, we’re purchasing more groceries as dining out… Read more

COVID-19 RESOURCES: For Washington state information, please see this website: https://coronavirus.wa.gov/ AWB COVID-19 resources for employers: https://www.awb.org/covid-19-resources CDC Guidance for Businesses: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html Washington Dept. of Health daily statistics: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus Univ. of Wash. IHME Model (Christopher Murray) showing peak resources: https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america  Global growth of COVID-19 – logarithmic and linear curves: http://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/… Read more

The 2020 Washington legislative session was, as expected, short and fast-moving. The Legislature wrapped up all business around 8:30 PM on March 12th. Of course, the last few weeks of the session were colored by the growing disruption of the coronavirus. Gov. Jay Inslee held the press conference that limited… Read more

Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law on Wednesday, March 25th legislation that recognizes the essential role Washington state’s forestry industry and working forests play in removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The legislation formally establishes a state policy recognizing and supporting the complete forest products sector as a climate solution,… Read more