(1) GMA Goals. Maintain and enhance natural resource-based industries, including productive timber, agricultural, and fisheries industries. Encourage the conservation of productive forest lands and productive agricultural lands, and discourage incompatible uses.

Reduce the inappropriate conversion of undeveloped land into sprawling, low-density development.

Encourage the retention of open space and development of recreational opportunities such as non-motorized trails; conserve fish and wildlife habitat; increase access to natural resource lands and water, such as non-motorized trails; and develop parks.

(2) Definition. The Growth Management Act defines “forest land” as land primarily devoted to growing trees for long-term commercial timber production on land that can be economically and practically managed for such production, including Christmas trees subject to the excise tax imposed under RCW 84.33.100 through 84.33.140, and that has long-term commercial significance. In determining whether forest land is primarily devoted to growing trees for long-term commercial timber production on land that can be economically and practically managed for such production, the following factors shall be considered: (a) the proximity of the land to urban, suburban, and rural settlements; (b) surrounding parcel size and the compatibility and intensity of adjacent and nearby land uses; (c) long-term local economic conditions that affect the ability to manage for timber production; and (d) the availability of public facilities and services conducive to conversion of forest land to other uses.

The Growth Management Act defines “long-term commercial significance” to include the growing capacity, productivity, and soil composition of the land for sustained commercial production, in consideration of the land’s proximity to population areas, and the possibility of more intense uses of the land.

(3) Resource Base. Commercial forestry in the Sequim-Dungeness region is still a viable industry. There are sufficient public (federal and State) and private lands to provide a resource base for timber harvesting. In 1992, the County designated approximately 33,000 acres of lands as forest lands of long-term commercial significance in the Sequim-Dungeness region, including approximately 3,500 acres as transitional forest lands. A large percentage of the lands designated are State and federal lands. There are few forest resource support industries in this planning area. Mills and log storage yards are primarily located in the Port Angeles area.

(4) Incompatible Uses. A significant conflict with commercial forest operations is the growing residential encroachment into forested areas. Lost Mountain, Blue Mountain, Happy Valley, and Palo Alto are examples of areas where residential development has increased and encroached upon the commercial forest. In these situations, conflicts between residential land uses and traditional forest management techniques will continue to increase.

(5) Conservation Alternatives. One of the regulatory tools that Clallam County adopted in 1992 to conserve the forest resource base and ensure compatibility at the forest/rural interface was the use of a commercial-residential mixed use zones (CFM). The majority of these zoning districts were in the foothills in the Sequim-Dungeness region. Residential development within the CFM zones was allowed through a cluster pattern (30 percent development/70 percent forest), in exchange for which a density bonus of 300 percent was allowed in the CFM-20 zone and 70 percent in the CFM-5 zone.

There are other options the County could pursue for transitional forest lands, some of which may be more appropriately designated as commercial forest, with one residential dwelling unit per 80 acres allowed through a special permitting process. A zoning district which allows single-family dwelling units on 20 acres could be established on the remaining transitional areas, with increased setbacks from adjacent resource lands. Planned unit developments which reserve an area for resource production could be encouraged within these zones. Flexible zoning techniques, which allow the landowner to transfer density to smaller lot sizes within the same ownership may also work towards conserving the forest lands.