Any advice

[COOPER17H]

I need some help....
I purchased 5 acres of land a few months back with hopes of building on it. I have run into some issues with the county and the amount of Board feet I can remove without pulling a Class IV Forest Practice Permit. I need some help measuring trees and calculating BF. I did some research on the web and found that Western Wa uses Scribner's Decimal C log rule for BF calculations. According to the county, I am not certified forester and therefore will not accept my math.(shame on me for studying physics in college)

Short term help needed to secure building permit.
Long term help needed to remove 1 acre of 40'-50' hemlocks approx 60-70 of them. ( i will file for a permit once construction has started)

Anyone out there a logger in Sno County WA?
Any value in Hemlock?

Any help would be appreciated-

Respectfully-
Homeless in Seattle-TRying to build in Sno County WA

 

[Stumper]

Hmmm... why would you want to build in a county that claims management rights over your property? I'm the sort of smart alec that would cut everything I wanted down and if they came squawking say "Board feet? What are talkin' 'bout man? That is all firewood. There ain't no boards!"

Best wishes. I hope you get things worked out.

 

[NeTree]

My first question would be... why would you need any kind of license to do such work on your OWN property?? That's absurd!

Re: helmlock- Yes, there is some lumber value.

 

[ArtB]

It is all about generating money for the state and local politicians.

In WA the laws are changing so fast with a blue state government both state and local levels it is crazy. Be glad you are not a bit south in king county - as of Jan 1st, 100 ft setback from a streamto cut even blackberry bushes , 60% of land outside of 'urban growth boundaries' must be left in natural state (no lawns) or cutting anything - all this is "provided" as a "service" the to citizens, naturally you get to pay big fees for any 'service' you receive.

Lawsuits currenty in court from a number of groups are contesting the ultra restrictive policies which amounts to appropriation without compensation.

In Sno Co. the previous suggestion about treating the cut falls as firewood may work. State law allows cutting for your own personal use without a permit, but Sno Co. may be more restrictive. Anything less than a few log truck load of Hemlock won't bring much more than firewood worth in my experience. Obviously, if you sell logs to a mill the state wants it's cut, and to provide you a 'service'.

There is one wa state web site I've found useful you could try, state forestry extension agents I talked to (in Lewis county where I have forest land) have been helpful in the past, can give you current pricing and permit structures:
http://www.dnr.wa.gov/htdocs/rp/steward.htm

 

[COOPER17H]

artb-

thanks for the link. got some good info from it.

 

[Treeman14]

My first question would be... why would you need any kind of license to do such work on your OWN property?? That's absurd!

Is it? Most jurisdictions require a license for electrical, plumbing, roofing work, etc. Illogical or intrusive, maybe, but not so absurd.

 

[NeTree]

brett, for major work, yeah... but you don't need to be a licensed plumber to replace a faucet or outlet, eh?

Just struck me as odd.

 

[elsieblais]

I agree with the above suggestion.