(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, conserve fish and wildlife habitat, increase access to natural resource lands and water, and develop parks.

Protect the environment and enhance the State’s high quality of life, including air and water quality, and the availability of water.

Encourage the involvement of citizens in the planning process and ensure coordination between communities and jurisdictions to reconcile conflicts.

(2) Watershed Goals. Protect beneficial uses of water from nonpoint sources of pollution in the Port Angeles watershed, including the effects of pathogens, chemicals, sediment, and nutrients on both surface and ground water resources.

Protect and enhance watershed resources, and reverse degradation where it has occurred.

Ensure long-term, sustainable, environmental and economic health of the watershed.

Ensure cooperation and coordination in resource management.

(3) A Vision for Forest Resource Lands. We envision the retention of forest resource lands and the maintenance of the forest industry as a major industry in the County. The forested foothills of the region remain in resource land use providing for jobs, clean and abundant water and forested vistas. The State-managed foothills area has successfully combined forest management with recreational trails utilized by thousands of bicyclists and hikers. The steep ravines of the streams in the watershed retain their forested cover providing a filter for runoff and providing cover and movement corridors for wildlife as well as fish.

(4) 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.

(5) Resource Base. Commercial forestry in the Port Angeles 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 34,000 acres of lands as forest lands of long-term commercial significance, including approximately 3,500 acres as transitional forest lands. A large percentage of the lands designated are State and federal lands. There are many forest resource support industries in this planning area. Mills and log storage yards are primarily located in the Port Angeles area.

(6) Forest Land Use Issues. Community input through surveys, neighborhood meetings, and letters has indicated a strong interest in conserving our forest lands, open space and the quality of our environment. In 1992, Clallam County designated approximately 34,000 acres as forest lands of long-term commercial significance in the Port Angeles Region, including approximately 3,500 acres of transitional forest lands. Retaining commercial forest resource lands in resource use is the major goal of the resource lands element. Retention of resource lands benefits the taxpayers of the County in that this land use requires few County services while providing substantial income primarily in the form of harvest taxation.

Commercial forestry in the east end of the County is and will continue to be our largest industry. There are sufficient public (federal and State) and private lands to provide the resource base for timber harvesting. Retention of this resource base should limit the loss of forestry related jobs.

Additional benefits of forestland retention derive from the fact that these lands play a major role in protecting both water quality and quantity. Permanent clearing of forestlands associated with housing developments leads to rapid surface runoff as tree and other vegetation are no longer available to allow for slow infiltration of water into soils and aquifers. Construction of roads and housing greatly increases erosion as soils and cut slopes are exposed to rainfall. Roads, roofs and driveways increase impervious surfaces which directly contributes to surface runoff and to a decrease in water added to aquifers.

One of the larger conflicts with commercial forest operations occurs when residences encroach into areas managed for commercial forestry. The foothills area south of Township Line Road, Upper Mount Pleasant Road, Mt. Angeles Road and Upper Black Diamond Road are examples of areas where residential development has increased and encroached upon the commercial forest. Commercial forestry zoning is utilized to limit the number of persons locating in areas of commercial forest operations so that conflict is minimized. Commercial forestry/residential mixed use zoning is utilized in areas currently managed for commercial forestry by smaller landowners in order to retain at least a portion of these lands in commercial forestry. Commercial forestry/residential mixed use zoning allows residential uses but utilizes the forest lands retained in this type of development to buffer and separate residences from commercial forest operations which might endanger residences such as prescribed burning, spraying or harvesting operations. Commercial forestry/residential mixed use zoning is also utilized in areas surrounded by commercial forestry zoning where a residential area of limited size is intermixed with commercial forestlands and where designation as rural land use would tend to create conflicts with commercial forestry or encourage conversion of forest resource lands. Rural very low density designations are utilized in areas not currently managed for commercial forestry to buffer commercial forest areas from more intensive rural density development. Conflicts with traditional forest management techniques will continue to increase but can be minimized by maintaining commercial forest areas in commercial forest uses, utilizing buffers to reduce the risk to residences located near commercial forest lands and providing for low densities at the edge of the commercial forest.

One of the methods that Clallam County adopted to conserve the resource base and ensure compatibility at the forest/rural interface was the use of a commercial-residential mixed use zones (CFM). Most of these zones were in the foothills on the east end of the County. Development within the CFM zones was allowed if developed in a cluster pattern (thirty (30) percent development/seventy (70) percent forest). In exchange for clustering, large density bonuses were possible. This plan responds to critics of these excessive bonuses by removing the bonus provisions of the earlier ordinances. Another legitimate criticism leveled at the CFM zones was the fact that forest reserves were only set aside for twenty (20) years which is not enough time to provide for even one rotation of trees to reach maturity. This plan requires that the forest reserve be set aside permanently for forest use since the development potential of the entire property will have been utilized in the development area.