The Board of Natural Resources sets policies to guide how the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages our state’s lands and resources. The board was formed when DNR was created in 1957.
The Board has several responsibilities:
- Approve or disapprove trust land timber and mineral sales
- Establish the sustainable harvest level for forested trust lands
- Approve or disapprove sales or exchanges of trust lands
- Guide DNR’s stewardship of state Natural Area Preserves, Natural Resources Conservation Areas, and aquatic or submerged lands
The Board also serves in two other roles:
- Harbor Line Commission—Establishes or relocates harbor lines to define boundaries for commerce and navigation in the state’s navigable waters.
- State Board of Appraisers—Carries out the Washington State Constitution’s requirement that no lands granted to the state for educational purposes be sold except to the highest bidder at public action unless improvements have been established by a Board of Appraisers.
Meetings
The Board meets the first Tuesday of each month except August.
(view agendas and minutes)
Membership
The Commissioner of Public Lands is the secretary of the Board. The Board selects a chair and vice-chair from its membership.
(view board members - 12KB PDF)
By statute, the members are:
- Commissioner of Public Lands
- Governor
- Superintendent of Public Instruction
- County commissioner from a county with state forest trust lands
- Dean of the University of Washington College of The Environment
- Dean of the Washington State University College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences
Member Terms
Board members serve open-ended terms and represent the institutions and counties that benefit from the trusts.
(view member terms - 12KB PDF)