(a) [Policy No. 1] Lands meeting the definition or criteria for commercial forest lands in the County General Plan should be designated as commercial forest lands of long-term commercial significance. In general, these lands should have a minimum parcel size of eighty (80) acres or contiguous parcels under the same ownership can be grouped into eighty (80) acre sizes, are currently forested, and have a forest land grade which is capable of growing trees at a commercial growth rate. (See criteria in the County-wide Plan.)

(b) [Policy No. 2] Commercial forestry (CF) designation and zoning at eighty (80) acre minimum lot sizes is the preferred form of protection for forest resource lands. Conversion of commercial forest (CF) zoning to zones which provide less protection of the forest resource such as commercial forestry/mixed use residential shall not be permitted during this planning period. Rural and urban lands have sufficient development potential to provide for increased populations.

(c) [Policy No. 3] Lands designated in the comprehensive plan as commercial forest/residential mixed use serve as a buffer between more intensively managed commercial forestlands and rural development patterns. Commercial forestry/residential mixed use designation and zoning are 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 or conversion pressures for commercial forestry. These areas are currently managed for commercial forestry but they have been impacted by adjacent residential development. They provide for a mix of protected forest reserves and low density residential lots built in a clustered development pattern. The commercial forest/residential mixed use zones have been modified in the following manner so that they may accomplish their intended purpose of protecting commercial forest uses in areas experiencing some growth pressures:

(d) [Policy No. 4] Areas not presently managed for commercial forestry which are found in close association with large blocks of commercial forest land should be utilized as a buffer between commercial forest lands and rural sized developments. These areas should be designated for very low density residential use at twenty (20) acre densities.

(e) [Policy No. 5] Retention of designated commercial forestlands managed by the State for forest production/harvest is a key element of preserving the viewshed in the Port Angeles region. Many State-managed forestlands are found at elevations that make them highly visible from highways, County roads and from urban areas. These lands should be retained in State ownership and should not be converted out of commercial forest designations. It is an accepted fact that the community expects these lands to be managed for commercial forest purposes using forest “best management practices.”

(f) [Policy No. 6] Retention of all designated commercial forestlands in the Port Angeles planning region is vital to maintenance of the forest industry as the regions leading industry. Given that development potentials of rural and urban lands in the region could accommodate much more than twenty (20) years of population growth, designated commercial forest resource lands should be retained in the original commercial forestland designations and zoning proposed by the 1995 plan throughout the planning period.

(g) [Policy No. 7] Retention of designated commercial forestlands is a key component to protection of water quality and water quantity.

(h) [Policy No. 8] Existing managed public access to public forest lands for recreation should be maintained.

(i) [Policy No. 9] Master planned resorts should not be located on forest resource lands that are within the viewshed of the Port Angeles urban growth area or when more than fifty (50) percent of the proposed site would be covered by critical areas. The viewshed of the Port Angeles urban growth area is defined as lands located at elevations exceeding 1,000 feet in elevation above sea level in the area between Morse Creek and the Elwha River.

(a) [Policy No. 10] General Policies for Forest Management.

(b) [Policy No. 11] Policies for Forest Practices Related to Conversion to Another Use.

(c) [Policy No. 12] Policies Related to Timber Management Forest Practices.