The King County Rural Forest Commission is an advisory group of 13 volunteer members, appointed by the King County Executive, who represent a variety of rural forest interests and advise the County on policies and programs affecting rural forests.

Commissioners represent the diversity of rural forestry interests and geographic regions of rural King County, including: private rural forest landowners; advocates of non-timber values of forest land; affected Indian tribes; consumers or users of local forest products (e.g., mills, lumber suppliers, artisans, florist suppliers, and others); academic or professional foresters or forestry associations; rural cities (including Black Diamond, Carnation, Duvall, Enumclaw, North Bend, Skykomish, and Snoqualmie); and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

Commission members must have a working knowledge of King County forestry, a strong commitment to promote forestry in the rural area, the ability to work with differing viewpoints to find solutions to complex problems, and a willingness to commit the time. Commission members are asked to volunteer for a minimum term of three years. Duties include attending bi-monthly meetings on the third Thursday of every other month at the Preston Community Center (usually) and occasional subcommittee meetings. Inquiries from King County residents interested in serving on the Commission are welcome at any time.

Recognizing that conserving healthy forests is essential to protecting and restoring water and air quality, providing recreational opportunities and maintaining a viable forestry industry in King County, the Commission issued the report King County Rural Forest Commission Strategic Priorities Recommendations and Actions for Conservation of Forestland in King County in 2022.

Recruitment

To apply for an appointment, please complete the basic application and either mail it to Wendy Sammarco at King County Water and Land Resources Division, 201 South Jackson Street, Suite 5600, Seattle, WA 98104, or email it as an attachment to Wendy at wsammarco@kingcounty.gov. If you have a resume, please include that with your application. If you are selected for an appointment to the Rural Forest Commission, you will also be asked to complete a King County Board of Ethics financial disclosure form. More information on applying for a King County commission can be found here. For questions about the Rural Forest Commission, contact Wendy at 206-263-6916 or wsammarco@kingcounty.gov.

Meetings

The Commission meets six times a year and meetings are open to the public. Regular meetings will be held from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM in-person and online on the third Thursday in January, March, May, July, September, and November.

Meeting Agendas:

• March 21, 2024: Agenda

The Commission also has phone-in meetings tentatively scheduled from 9:00 - 10:00am on alternating months to address time-sensitive issues that cannot wait until the scheduled regular meeting.

For more information, please contact Wendy Sammarco at wsammarco@kingcounty.gov or 206-263-6916.

Past meeting minutes (Adobe Acrobat PDF format):

• November 16, 2023 Minutes
• September 21, 2023 Minutes
• May 18, 2023 Minutes

Forest landowners with > 500-acres

Forest landowners with 40 – 500-acres

Residential forest landowners with >20-acres

Advocates of non-timber values of forestland

Washington Department of Natural Resources

Affected Indian Tribes

Consumers of local forest products

Academic forester

Professional forester

Rural cities

King Conservation District ex-officio

USDA Forest Service ex-officio

WSU Extension ex-officio

Commission Staff

Wendy Sammarco
King County Forestry Program

For questions about the Rural Forest Commission, please contact Wendy Sammarco, Forester, at wsammarco@kingcounty.gov or (206) 263-6916.

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