KittitasCountyCWPP_September2022_Amendment_Only (2)

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Overall treatment needs: Treating an estimated 15,500 to 23,000 acres of dense forest is recommended (Table 1). A combi- nation of treatments will be needed to accomplish this goal, and may include commercial and non -commercial thinning, prescribed fire, regeneration harvests, and mechanical fuel reduction. Based on tree size class, many of the acres are commercially viab le. However, road access, logging systems, habitat requirements, aquatic impacts, timber markets, and other considerations will d eter- mine treatment type. Maintenance treatments on 2,500-6,000 acres are also recommended. Individual landowners (Fig. 5) will con- duct their own field assessments, planning, and decision making processes to determine acres and types of treatments they can carry out to achieve the overall landscape goals while meeting their own management objectives and regulatory requirements. Figure 5. Land Ownership Large-Medium Dense Medium Open Small Dense Treatment Needs: Cle Elum Planning Area Pre-treatment forest structure types Post-treatment forest structure types Large Open Open forest with small trees growing in Open forest after maintenance treatment Figure 4. Current & post treat- ment percent of forest types. * mid-point of treatment range (Treatment type) Dry forest: Treating 8,000 - 11,000 acres of dense, dry forest acres (Table 1, Fig. 3) is recommended to flip the dry portion of the landscape from being dominated by dense conditions to open forest (Fig. 4. Extensive firewise treatments on parcels with homes are the highest priority. On public and private forestland without homes, creating larger patches of open canopy, fire resistant forest will reduce the current fragmentation of the dry for- est area and facilitate fire protection for communities. The priority treatments are on the north and south slopes of the valley to create defensible space zones. Moist and Cold forest: Treating 7,500-12,000 acres of dense, moist and cold forest is recommended to break up large patches of dense, multistory forest. This will reduce risk of a large crown fire and help current moist forests adapt to a warming climate. Shifting species composition toward ponderosa pine and wester larch is also recommended to increase fire, insect, and drought resistance. Treatments in large, medium and small diameter forest are needed. Post treatment, more than 1/2 of moist and cold forest will still be in a dense condition, leaving sufficient buffer for when characteristic fires burn dense forest habitat. Figure 3. Potential Treatment Areas. Total area of target structure classes is shown. Only a portion needs to be treated. See Table 1. Maintenance treatments: A portion of existing open forests on dry sites need prescribed fire or mechanical methods to maintain open conditions by reducing ground fuels and excessive small trees that have grown in. An estimated 2,500 - 5,500 acres of treatments is currently recommended. Many of these areas have been recently treated, but will fill in over the next 10-15 years. Table 1. Forest Health Treatment Need