Legacy Forest Ground Truthing in Whatcom County, Washington

Finley Bell

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

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

Link to Full Text

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