Forestry Riparian Easement Program
   

 
The Forestry Riparian Easement Program (FREP) is a voluntary program that reimburses landowners for the value of trees they are required to leave to protect fish habitat.
 
The Forestry Riparian Easement Program (FREP) is a voluntary program that reimburses landowners for the value of trees they are required to leave to protect fish habitat. The program provides compensation for 90% of the timber value and applies to trees adjacent to streams, wetlands, seeps, or unstable slopes.  Landowners receive compensation for granting a 40-year conservation easement. The easement is on the trees only and does not provide public access to your land.
You may qualify if you are an eligible small forest landowner and:
  • You harvest less than 2 million board feet of timber on average, per year
  • Your harvest does not convert the qualifying land to a use incompatible with forestry
  • Have completed a harvest* and left a buffer of trees next to a stream, river, wetland, lake, pond, or adjacent unstable slopes
  • You are an individual, partnership, corporation, or other nongovernmental for-profit legal entity
  • You own either a parcel larger than 20 contiguous acres or more than 80 forested acres in Washington State
*You may still be eligible if your harvest is not possible due to Forest Practices Rules.
Once you have applied, here is what to expect next:
 
You can expect an immediate confirmation from the online application or a letter within two weeks of receiving the paper application. You will receive our comprehensive Forestry Riparian Easement Program (FREP) welcome packet within a month of the application date. A conservation easement forester will schedule a field visit and your application will be added to the Forestry Riparian Easement application funding list. Our funding is based on biennial state allotments to this program.  You can check your application status on the FREP Application List that is updated monthly. 
 
To determine the value of your easement, FREP staff will measure and calculate the volume of the qualifying timber in your application. You may also be eligible for reimbursement for the compliance costs for participation in this program which may include the cost to mark the streamside buffer trees that are a part of this application. 
 
We created this FREP Timeline to outline the step-by-step process from application to compensation. 
 
At any time during this process if you have questions regarding your FREP application, please contact us by emailing frep@dnr.wa.gov or call 360- 480-9702 to talk with our FREP manager.   
FREP Frequently Asked Questions 
 
Learn more about the Forestry Riparian Easement Program by clicking on our FAQ link.