1. Community Forest Trust
Call for nominations
Craig Partridge
Policy and Government Relations Director
Washington Department of Natural Resources
1 Community Forest Trust

2. Community Forest Trust
Legislation
Overview
• Passed by 2011 Legislature as ESHB 1421
• Creates a discrete non-fiduciary forest land
trust with lands managed by DNR
• Acquired lands can be private or state forest
trust lands
• Lands acquired jointly with local partner
resources and state capital appropriations
2 Community Forest Trust

3. Community Forest Trust
Legislation
Overview continued…
• Emphasis on self-sustainable, active forest
management
• Require a community working forest
management plan
• Lands may be divested if they do not perform
3 Community Forest Trust

4. Community Forest Trust
Legislation
Minimum program management
principles
1. Working forest lands at significant risk
of conversion protected
2. Financial and social viability through
management objectives consistent
with values of the local community
3. Lands maintained in a working status
through diverse commodity and non-
commodity values
4 Community Forest Trust

5. Community Forest Trust
Legislation
Minimum program management
principles continued…
4. Generating revenue to, at a minimum,
pay for management costs
5. Providing ongoing, sustainable public
recreation access
6. Providing educational opportunities for
local communities, including showing
the benefits of working forests
5 Community Forest Trust

6. Community Forest Trust
Legislation
Funding
• Acquisition through a variety of means
(purchase, gift, donation, grant, transfer, etc.)
• Fee interest or partial fee interest, including
conservation easements
• Local commitment of financial contribution to the
specific community forest
– at least 50% of the difference between parcel’s appraised fair market
value and parcel’s timber and forest land value
– Local funding through any means deemed acceptable by DNR
(traditional financing/bonding, land donation, purchase of conservation
easements or TDRs)
• Remaining funding by state capital appropriation
6 Community Forest Trust

7. Community Forest Trust
Legislation
Management plan
• All lands in CFT to be managed under a plan
developed after acquisition
• Local advisory committee formed to advise DNR on
how to maintain land’s working status and economic
viability objectives
• Management activities must provide ongoing revenue
– To reimburse DNR admin costs, and
– To fund community conservation/recreation objectives
• If DNR and local advisory committee fail to reach
consensus on plan, DNR can adopt a plan informed by
the community, or divest in the property
7 Community Forest Trust

8. Community Forest Trust
Program Implementation
Legislature did not appropriate $$
• To fund acquisition of community forest properties, or
• To enable DNR to build the new program
Therefore, DNR is taking outreach-driven approach
to program development
• Reach out to potential proponents
• Solicit projects with strong community support
• Select 1-2 pilot projects from nominations to propose for
FY 2013-15 capital budget funding
• Use pilot projects to develop CFT program for future
program funding and implementation cycles
8 Community Forest Trust

9. Community Forest Trust
Program Implementation
What does this mean?
• No resources to support
development of program
• Unable to develop a full
competitive process to evaluate
proposals, conduct appraisals, etc.
• Rely on proponents with strong
proposals to nominate candidate
community forest pilot projects to
launch program
9 Community Forest Trust

10. Community Forest Trust
Call for nominations
What steps can local entities take to
nominate a community forest?
1. Identify sources of funding for local share
2. Solidify broad local community support for CF
nomination
3. ID and secure broad community support for
management approaches for nominated CF
4. Submit written nomination detailing your proposed CF
using nomination template provided by DNR
DNR is seeking a community partnership.
10 Community Forest Trust

11. Community Forest Trust
Call for nominations
Community partnerships that show
broad community support will be
strong candidates for pilot projects
 Local support for nominations is key
 land trusts
 local municipalities
 recreational user groups
 neighboring landowners
 conservation organizations
 local businesses
 elected officials
11 Community Forest Trust

12. Community Forest Trust
What next?
The process
• Outreach to interested parties
• Partnerships formed in community to support
CFT nomination
• Nominations submitted to DNR
• DNR reviews nominations and brings short list to
Board of Natural Resources for consideration
• Proposal of 1-2 pilots forwarded to the Legislature
for funding
12 Community Forest Trust

13. Community Forest Trust
What next?
Proposed Timeline
March-April 2012
Outreach to potential community partners
July 2, 2012
Community Forest nominations due to DNR
July-August 2012
DNR reviews nominations and finalizes proposed list
for consideration by Board of Natural Resources
September 2012
Board of Natural Resources selects pilot projects; DNR
forwards capital budget proposal to OFM that includes
a Community Forest Trust funding package
October 2012 – DNR and community partners pursue support for
March 2013
funding of the CFT proposal in legislature
July 2013
Implementation of Community Forest Trust program
pilots begin (if funded by legislature)
13 Community Forest Trust

14. Community Forest Trust
Questions?
Craig Partridge
360-902-1028
craig.partridge@dnr.wa.gov
Andy Hayes
360-902-1347
andrew.hayes@dnr.wa.gov
14 Community Forest Trust February 2012

15. 15