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2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan <br />Kittitas County, Washington <br />3.4. LAND USE <br />Kittitas County is located midway between the heavily populated Puget Sound region and the eastern <br />farming areas centered around Moses Lake. Over 50% of the County is covered by coniferous forests, <br />30% is in pasture or unimproved grazing land, and less than 2o/o is in urban development. The County <br />has a highly varied terrain which begins in the high Cascades where the land slopes generally to the east <br />and south to the Columbia River. <br />Land use in Kittitas County ranges from residential uses to resource-based activities. ln the Snoqualmie <br />Pass area, resource allocation in the form of timber harvesting is the predominant land use with additional <br />areas used for recreation. Resource lands still predominate the mid-elevations, though residential <br />development increases in these areas. ln the lower elevations, agricultural activities are the main land <br />use, with residential development intermixed in the area. The Yakima Training Center, owned by the <br />United States Department of Defense, is located in the southeastern portion of the County and makes <br />up approximately 164,132 acres within the lower Kittitas Valley..21 <br />More than 70% of the County is publicly owned. Approximately, two thirds of the land is managed by the <br />United States Forest Service (USFS) and the United States Army (Yakima Training Center) and the <br />remaining one third is owned by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the <br />Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Privately owned land is a mixture of rural development, <br />agriculture, and commercial forestry..22 <br />Table 3-2 lists the land use designations assigned in the 2021Kittitas County Comprehensive Plan, along <br />with the corresponding zone classifications present in each land use designation and totalarea in acres <br />occupied.23 <br />Table 3-2. Land Use Designation and Corresponding Zoning Glassification <br />21 Kittitas County. (2021). Kittitas County Comprehensive Plan. Retrieved from <br />https://www.co.kittitas.wa.us/uploads/documents/cds/comp-plan/202112021%20Comprehensive%20Plan.pdf. <br />22 Kittitas County. (2018). Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Retrieved from <br />https://www.dnr.wa.qov/publications/rp burn cwpp kittitasco. pdf. <br />23 Kittitas County. (2021). Kittitas County Comprehensive Plan. Retrieved from <br />https://www.co.kittitas.wa.us/uploads/documents/cds/comp-plan/202112021 %20Comprehensive%20Plan.pdf. <br />Commercial <br />Agriculture Resource Lands <br />Agricultural lands of long- <br />term commercial <br />sionificance. <br />289,5'15.8 Commercial <br />Agriculture 289,515.8 <br />Commercial <br />Forest Resource Lands Forest lands of long-term <br />commercial sionificance.800,275.0 Commercial <br />Forest 800,275.0 <br />Mineral Lands <br />(includes lands zoned <br />Commercial <br />Agriculture, <br />Commercial Forest, <br />Agriculture 20, or <br />Forest & Ranael <br />Resource Lands Mineral lands of long-term <br />commercial significance 5,690.7 <br />Zoning <br />Classification <br />Varies <br />5,690.7 <br />Use <br />lntensity <br />Zoning <br />ClassificationLand Use Description Acres Acres <br />Chapter 3: Community Profile 24