Successes and Accomplishments

 
 

Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition’s (NEWFCs) mission is to work collaboratively with public and government interests to steward and conserve forest ecosystems so plants, animals, and communities thrive. Formed in 2002, NEWFC works with the Colville National Forest (CNF) and other state and local groups and agencies to promote ecological forest restoration, aquatic restoration, recreation, wildlands protection, and economic stability in the community. 

NEWFC’s board composition includes the timber industry, environmental groups, recreation interests, foresters, local business owners, and others. By working together, the CNF has maintained an integrated, diverse forest products infrastructure through the infamous “Timber Wars” and the 2008 recession. 

Project funding and implementation - Because of collaboration, the CNF and NEWFC have increased budgets, secured funding, expanded the scope, and implemented over 40 projects. In 2020, a record 122.726 million board feet were harvested from the forest, the most in the country.

  • In 2010, NEWFC launched a grant proposal that resulted in the CNF being awarded $968,000 in new revenue annually for ten years through the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP).

  • Collaborative success has led to funding like the Joint Chiefs’ Grant for $1 million annually for three years to support restoration project implementation and increased CNF capacity.

  • In 2018, NEWFC received a $400,000 grant that supported aquatic restoration analyses. In the last 5 years, the CNF has spent over $30 million on aquatic restoration efforts, which the collaborative has supported.

  • NEWFC proposed the Mill Creek Stewardship A-Z Pilot Project on the CNF to reduce wildfire risk and restore healthy forests without additional planning costs to the CNF. This A-Z project was so successful, another one has begun. 

  • NEWFC has helped launch a cross-boundary restoration project with the CNF, DNR, and the Kalispel Tribe, called the Sxwuytn project.

  • NEWFC secured funding and completed the first Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) for Chewelah, Lower Kettle River, and Stevens County. 

Science - NEWFC funded scientific forest modeling of potential treatment areas, contracted a Headwaters Economic study which estimated that 9 to 13 jobs are created in Northeast Washington for every million board feet of timber harvested, contracted socio-economic monitoring of restoration projects, and helped develop and field-test innovative landscape assessment models.

Litigation - NEWFC has collaborated on over 40 successful restoration projects without litigation; The group came to defense and intervened on a lawsuit to support the CNFs Mill Creek A-Z project. In the end, the judge noted that collaboration contributed to her decision to proceed with the project and the out of area plaintiffs did not prevail.

Wilderness –The cornerstone of NEWFC’s success is indelible support for the permanent protection of wildlands on the CNF. That support continues and NEWFC is currently igniting efforts to make permanent protection of significant wild landscapes a reality.

Recreation – NEWFC has advocated that the backlog of retained receipts generated by timber sales be used for recreation trails. As a result, these resources have been put to work on motorized and non-motorized trails.