County Schedules Public Presentations of Forest
Stewardship Policy
(Port Orchard, WA) – Kitsap County Parks and
Recreation Department has announced a series of county-wide presentations of
the Forest Stewardship Policy being crafted for Kitsap County Board of
Commissioners action this fall. Public comment is encouraged and will be
incorporated in the final document. Various policy drafts have been
presented to special interest organizations and park stewardship groups over
the last 18 months.
Forests owned by Kitsap County are currently not managed for health, safety,
and habitat and ecosystem complexity/diversity. The Forest Stewardship
Policy would authorize the active management of County owned forests to
create variations in structure, composition and function that restores the
natural variability in forest conditions and processes that existed prior to
settlement in the 1860’s.
Emphasis will be on a wider variety of forest attributes, or ecotypes,
rather than tree-focused stand prescriptions historically used in forest
care and cultivation. Ecotypes will represent larger compatible groups of
ecologically similar forest plant species. The emphasis will be healthy
diverse forests that provide high quality habitat, clean water and other
ecosystem benefits.
Forest ecosystem treatments will re-create the variability of natural
disturbance, both within and among the forest types allowing the forests to
adapt to changing conditions over coming several centuries. Multi-aged
forests with varying canopy conditions will promote the development of
legacy tree species and provide critical, priority, fish and wildlife
habitat.
Three general meetings have been scheduled to present the draft policy. The
first meeting is set for Tuesday, July 17 at the Kingston Community Center,
Kingston Room. On Tuesday July 24, a presentation will be held at the County
Administration Building, Port Orchard. The central Kitsap meeting is
scheduled Tuesday, July 31, Eagles Nest, Fairgrounds/Event Center,
Bremerton. All three meetings will begin at 6:30pm.
The draft policy is available on-line at the Parks & Recreation Department’s
website
www.kitsapgov.com/parks. Comments will be taken through August.
