The Forests & Fish Law is a Landmark Salmon Recovery Plan
The Forests & Fish Law is an historic, science-based set of forest practices regulations that protect 60,000 miles of streams running through 9.3 million acres of state and private forestland. In 2006, the Forests & Fish Law was endorsed by the federal government, through a statewide Habitat Conservation Plan. As one of the largest and most comprehensive pieces of environmental legislation in the U.S., the law is designed to fully comply with both the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA) to protect Washington's native fish and aquatic species.
Washington has one of the Greatest Levels of Protection for Forested Streams in the U.S.
The Forests & Fish Law was developed in collaboration with federal, state, tribal, and county governments and private forest landowners. Representatives of these governments and organizations worked together for 18 months to make changes to the forest practices rules to protect clean water and riparian habitat on non-federal forestland in Washington State. Changes were made to improve forest roads and culverts, enlarge buffer zones along stream banks, and locate unstable slopes around the state. An adaptive management monitoring program has also been put into place to test the effectiveness of the new rules.
The Science Behind the Law
More than 140 individuals, including scientists, policy makers, and regulators worked together to develop the scientifically based changes to forest practices rules found in the Forests & Fish Law to meet four key goals established by the Forest Practices Board.
- Provide compliance with the Endangered Species Act for aquatic and riparian-dependent species.
- Restore and maintain riparian habitat to support a harvestable supply of fish.
- Meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act for water quality.
- Keep the timber industry economically viable in the state of Washington.
The rules of the law are monitored on the ground to ensure the objectives of restoring salmon habitat and protecting water quality are being met. If they are not, the rules will be changed through peer-reviewed scientific determination and adaptive management. This allows for rule changes if science shows it to be necessary.
Progress is Measured Through Resource Objectives
Forestry's contribution to salmon recovery is based on meeting the four key goals listed above. Progress towards reaching these goals is measured through a set of resource objectives established by scientists for key aquatic conditions and processes. These objectives are designed to meet what salmon need to thrive during the various phases of their life cycle.
Scientific research will be conducted to test the effectiveness of forest practices at meeting the resource objectives to provide:
- Cool water by maintaining shade;
- Large woody debris for in-stream habitat;
- Clean water by protecting unstable slopes and improving roads to prevent excessive sediment from entering into streams;
- For the natural hydrologic regime by disconnecting road drainage from streams;
- Natural vegetation along streams and clean water by buffering streams to prevent forest herbicides from entering them; and
- Fish habitat for all life stages at any time of the year by correctly classifying streams and removing barriers to fish passage.
Strong Bipartisan Support from the Washington State Legislature
With strong bipartisan legislative support the Forests & Fish legislation (officially ESHB 2091) was passed on May 19, 1999. Former Governor Gary Locke signed it into law on June 7, 1999. This act directed the state Forest Practices Board to adopt permanent rules implementing Forests & Fish protection measures, effective July 1, 2001.
Former Governor Locke Makes the Forests & Fish Law Part of His Salmon Recovery Strategy
Rather than wait for the federal government to impose regulations under the Endangered Species Act, Governor Locke and his team led the development of a state-based plan for long-term protection of water quality and fish habitat in private forests. The law also allows for a more stable regulatory climate. With more regulatory certainty, landowners are now less likely to convert forestland to other uses that would be less desirable for salmon recovery.