Valley View Forest is our pilot community forest and will eventually be part of and serve as the gateway to the Chimacum Ridge Community Forest. It is being managed as a community forest for multiple benefits for the community and economy, including recreation, education, locally sourced wood products, and more.
Over the next few weeks, Jefferson Land Trust will be conducting a selective timber harvest at Valley View Forest, a Land Trust-protected working forest in Chimacum. The 65-acre Valley View Forest is the gateway to what will eventually become the 918-acre Chimacum Ridge Community Forest.
This first harvest, conducted according to our management plan, will selectively remove trees in order to prevent disease and improve the remaining trees’ health. It will also create the conditions for a healthier understory and diversify the habitat for wildlife. The harvest will generate revenue that supports Valley View Forest itself (creating funding for recreational use such as trails and for habitat enhancement projects), as well as other conservation projects.
Nonprofit community forests like Valley View Forest prioritize ecological health while returning benefits to the local community and economy, such as recreation, education, locally sourced wood products, and other related non-timber forest products like cedar bark and cedar tips.
In this pilot harvest, 16 local nonprofit, education, community, and tribal partners, most of whom participated in planning and visioning for the future Chimacum Ridge Community Forest, are being offered one of the harvested trees free of charge to use in support of their mission. And in addition to being offered a harvested tree, local tribes are also being offered the opportunity to harvest cedar bark — traditionally used for baskets, hats, regalia, and tools.
For future community forest harvests, we plan to develop a process for any Jefferson County nonprofit to apply to receive donated timber and/or other harvest products. This process will be led by a community forest board of managers, made up of Land Trust staff and community members who will make collaborative decisions on resource allocation for the community forest.
With the goal of keeping as much of the harvested wood available locally as possible, the wood from this harvest will also be made available to local mills and woodworking collaboratives, and to individual buyers for purchase. Please read the information below to learn how you can purchase wood and share in the bounty of the forest.
To purchase milled western redcedar wood for individual use from the Valley View Forest, please contact our Save the Land partner, Cody Wayland, Wayland Constructive, waylandconstructive[at]gmail.com.
Interested in whole-log purchase of western redcedar or other species? Please contact Preserve Manager Carrie Clendaniel at cclendaniel[at]saveland.org to discuss your needs. We can help whole-log buyers connect with local sawmills who can provide custom milling; log buyers will be responsible for transportation and processing.
Valley View Forest remains open to the public during the harvest. Visitors are reminded to remain on the established trails or within the boundaries of the Nature Studies Area to avoid the harvest area, which will be taking place in a different area of the forest.
