Forest Health Strategic Plans

Washington is the Evergreen State because of its forests. From the dense, lush stands of Douglas fir trees throughout the Puget Sound to the ponderosa pines towering over the picturesque landscapes of the Okanogan Highlands, forests are central to the history, identity, and continued prosperity of our state.

Forests throughout Washington also face an array of threats growing in size and scope. Longer, hotter droughts and more frequent severe weather events are reshaping the risk patterns for forests across much of the state for wildfire, flooding and outbreaks of damaging insects and diseases.

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources and an expansive roster of partners from the public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations and nonprofits, Tribes, and private landowners convened first in 2017 to draft the 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan: Eastern Washington. Grounded in science and rooted in an all lands, all hands approach set lofty goals for removing unhealthy trees and reintroducing prescribed burning to fire-adapted landscapes within dozens of priority planning areas from Cle Elum to Cheney.

Many of those same partners joined new representatives from each group in 2025 to draft the first Western Washington Forest Health Strategic Plan. Drawing on successes and lessons learned during planning and implementation of the 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan, this document charts a path forward while recognizing the ecological, social, and cultural features of western Washington.

Click here to learn more about the 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan: Eastern Washington

Click here to learn more about the Western Washington Forest Health Strategic Plan