State Trust Lands Habitat Conservation Plan
Earth Sciences

The Earth Sciences Program (ESP) was established in 2007 to provide geologic, geomorphic, and hydrologic consulting services to support State Trust Land management. ESP staff provide technical and scientific support for the DNR’s trust land timber sales program, rock and mineral leasing activities, and landscape-scale forest land planning efforts.

ESP staff also conducts research and monitoring aimed at evaluating the effects of forest land management activities on physical watershed processes. These processes include groundwater monitoring, and study of slides of sediments, rock and debris after storm events. Studying these processes can help DNR managers more fully understand the dynamics of water and geology in a given landscape to design activities to help protect water quality in streams and wildlife habitat.

Two of these research projects, the Kalaloch Groundwater Monitoring Project and the Loomis Snowmelt Hydrology Project, are designed to address the effects of timber harvesting on hydrologic processes. ESP staff currently are developing a GIS-based tool that utilizes uses high-resolution digital elevation models LiDAR to predict the location of shallow landslides. The tool, known by the acronym “SLIPS” (Shallow Landslide Initiation Point Screen) will help geologists and land managers better recognize and define sites that have a high potential for shallow instability. Together they will and develop mitigation measures that help prevent management-related landslides.

Recent and Current Projects

• Overview: Investigations of January 2009 Landslides in Whatcom County(130KB PDF)        
• Full Report: Investigations of January 2009 Landslides in Whatcom County(783KB PDF)
• Engineering Geologic Field Reconnaissance for the Investigation of January 2009 Landslide in Whatcom County
  Appendix A. 
  Debris Slide, Debris Flows, and Affected Properties 
  Appendix B.
  Debris Slide and Debris Avalanche, Van Den Heuvel Property
  Appendix C.
  Dam Break, Debris Flood, and Affected Properties
  Appendix D.
  Dam Break, Debris Flood, and Affected Properties
  Appendix E.
  Dam Break, Debris Flood, and Affected Properties
  Appendix F.
  Dam Break, Debris Flood, and Affected Properties
  Appendix G.
  Dam Break, Debris Flood, and Affected Properties
  Appendix H.
  Dam Break, Debris Flood, and Affected Properties
• Landform Remote Identification Model (LRIM) Tool (221KB PDF)
• Kalaloch Groundwater Monitoring Project (99KB PDF)