Legacy Forest Ground Truthing in Whatcom County, Washington
Senior Project Advisor
Aquila Flower
Document Type
Project
Publication Date
Fall 2024
Keywords
Late successional forest, Legacy forest, GIS, Ground truthing, Field work, Logging, DNR, Biodiversity, Forestry, Forest succession, Land management, Natural resource management
Abstract
This project involves ground truthing GIS work to add to existing GIS data for late successional forests or “legacy forest” in Western Washington. The role that legacy forests play in retaining biodiversity in our forests is discussed. Field work was done in the form of traveling to sections of legacy forest previously mapped with satellite imagery and adding polygons of new areas determined to be legacy forest. The polices for logging late successional forest on state Department of Natural Resources managed land are analyzed, as well as the projections for logging operations in legacy forests. This study concluded that much of Western Washington’s legacy forests are going to be logged in the next decade if we don’t have policy interventions.
Department
Environmental Studies
Recommended Citation
Bell, Finley, "Legacy Forest Ground Truthing in Whatcom County, Washington" (2024). WWU Honors College Senior Projects. 910.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwu_honors/910
Subjects - Topical (LCSH)
Geographic information systems; Old growth forests--Washington (State)--Management; Forest management--Washington (State); Natural resources management areas--Washington (State)
Type
Text
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf