Washington Forest Biomass Supply Assessment

This Report was prepared for Washington Department of Natural Resources by University of Washington, College of the Environment, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and TSS Consultants with financial support from USDA Forest Service

March 13, 2012

WASHINGTON FOREST BIOMASS SUPPLY ASSESSMENT

University of Washington College of the Environment School of Environmental and

Forest Sciences

Washington Forest Biomass Assessment Report 2012/03/13

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Washington Forest Biomass Assessment Report 2012/03/13

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Washington Forest Biomass Supply Assessment

Acknowledgements: We wish to thank Peter Goldmark, Commissioner of Public Lands and Aaron Everett, State Forester, for securing Forest Service funds that were awarded to complete the project. The project was made possible with a grant from the USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry. We thank the many people who contributed their time and insights throughout the assessment. In particular we thank Aaron Everett, Craig Partridge, Rachael Jamison and Jeff Linquist from the Washington Department of Natural Resources, attendees at 4 public meetings, those who took our calls and answered our emails in our pursuit to clarify information. We are also indebted to the technical review team for their insights and constructive comments submitted on the draft versions of the report.

Project Team: John Perez-Garcia, PI (UW) Elaine Oneil, Project Manager (UW) Todd Hansen, Project Manager (TSS Consultants) Tad Mason (TSS Consultants) James McCarter (UW) Luke Rogers (UW) Andrew Cooke (UW) Jeff Comnick (UW) Matt McLaughlin (UW)

Contact Information: WADNR: Rachael Jamison, Project Manager, (Rachael.Jamison@dnr.) UW/School of Forest Resources: John Perez-Garcia, (perjohm@u.washington.edu) TSS Consultants: Todd Hansen, (thansen@)

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Federal Civil Rights

In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, DNR does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. However, should a person wish to file a discrimination complaint, please write to:

USDA, Director Office of Civil Rights Room 326-W, Whitten Building 1400 Independence Avenue SW Washington D.C. 20250-9410 or call 202.720.5964 (voice and TDD).

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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Contents

List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................. 8 List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ 9 Executive Summary..................................................................................................................................... 11 Part 1. Introduction to the Study Report ................................................................................................... 18

1.1. Study Tasks...................................................................................................................................... 19 1.2. Study Approach Outline .................................................................................................................. 20 1.3. Navigating the Report ..................................................................................................................... 22 Part 2. Assessment Methods ..................................................................................................................... 25 2.1. Simulating Forest Inventory ............................................................................................................ 25

2.1.1. Acquiring and Processing Inventory Data ................................................................................ 25 2.1.2. Modeling Used with the GNN Databases................................................................................. 26 2.1.3. Creating Tree Lists to Determine Biomass Volumes................................................................. 26 2.2. Calculating Biomass for the Forest Inventory ................................................................................. 26 2.2.1. Selecting a Biomass Equation .................................................................................................. 26 2.2.2. Outlining the Process of Biomass Calculations ........................................................................ 29 2.2.3. Developing the Harvest Scenario Matrix.................................................................................. 29 2.2.4. Calculating Post-Timber Harvest Biomass ............................................................................... 31 2.2.5. Determining Harvest Configuration Constraints...................................................................... 33 2.2.6. Calculating Harvested Biomass ................................................................................................ 37 2.2.7. Determining Potential Market Biomass Operability Constraints ............................................. 38 2.2.8. Calculating Potential Market Biomass ..................................................................................... 41 2.2.9. Using Cost Assumptions to Determine Market Biomass.......................................................... 42 2.2.10. Cost Center Definitions........................................................................................................... 43 2.2.11. Calculating the Residual Value to the Landowner ................................................................. 44 2.2.12. Conducting Network Analysis ................................................................................................ 46 2.2.13. Calculating Market Biomass .................................................................................................. 47 2.2.14. Calculating the Volume of Biomass Left Behind..................................................................... 48 2.3. Biomass Database Design ............................................................................................................... 50 2.3.1. The Washington State Biomass Database ............................................................................... 50 2.3.2. The Harvest Scenarios .............................................................................................................. 52 2.3.3. Additional Database Information Layers ................................................................................. 54 Part 3. Results ............................................................................................................................................ 62 3.1. The Study Area ................................................................................................................................ 62

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