FOREST HEALTH PROGRAM
Latest Update of Forest Health Activities
Implementation of Washington’s Forest Health Law (124KB PDF)
Each year, an amount of wood fiber equivalent to more than 13% of annual forest growth is lost to diseases. Destructive forest insects can take out substantial portions of standing volumes when at epidemic levels in local areas. Exotic pests continually threaten Washington's forests. Improved forest health reduces timber losses and helps landowners meet present and future resource management objectives.
Forest Health Alert:
Douglas-Fir Tussock Moth in Okanogan County (847KB PDF)
Map in Okanogan Co. of Douglas-Fir Tussock Moth (1030KB PDF)
Washington Forest Health Highlight Reports
The Forest Health Program provides technical assistance on tree and forest health care for a variety of public and private landowners including:
- State
- Farm
- County
- Woodland
- Municipal
- Urban managers
- Industrial
- Residential owners
Program services include technical expertise, available through numerous forest health workshops sponsored by a variety of agencies. On-site prescriptions for improving forest and tree health are routine. Applied research and cooperative studies with universities and government agencies provide state-of-the-art forest and tree health care prescriptions for landowners. Demonstration sites that show benefits of various forest health practices are scattered across the state.
Annual detection, ranging from aerial and ground surveys to pheromone (attractant) trapping, provides early warning of pest epidemics or reports on new pests. Close ties with western states, Canadian provinces and federal agencies provide timely alerts about threatening forest pests.
Annual Forest Health Highlights and other publications identify current pest problems and provide answers for dealing with them.