August 2026: This year we will not be having a Fall Meeting/BBQ get together as Phil and Patty are both indisposed this fall. However, we hope to see you at our Spring Meeting. And “thank you” to those of you who responded to the chapter survey sent out earlier this year.
Take care. Praying for those dealing with the forest fires. Patty O’Hearn, Secretary/treasurer Phil Hess, President
October 4th 2025 Fall Meeting
Our very successful Fall meeting was hosted by Rosemary Dunkle at her forested, riparian and pasture property on Fowler Cr Road in the western part of Kittitas County. Twenty (20) members and guests attended.
- Rosemary provided an overview of the history of the family property including recent timber harvest, FREP, and cattle grazing activities.
- Member Korina Stark (Circular Spring) provided information on the benefits of biochar, how it is created with flame-capped kilns and the USDA pilot project grant that is currently underway.
- Other presentations included Tony Craven from Kittitas County Conservation District (KCCD) about the Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) program, and Ben Hartman, DNR Service Forester, about available cost share financial assistance programs.
- Election of officers: Phil Hess was named President and Patty O’Hearn as Secretary/Treasurer.
This meeting represented the 30-year anniversary of the founding of the Kittitas chapter that was formed in 1995 by a handful of members, including Phil Hess, Bob Monahan and others. A framed poster depicting the history of the fall meetings and chapter officers along with photos was presented to Phil for his dedication and contribution to the WFFA Kittitas Chapter. (see photo).
Chapter Succession Planning:
Phil Hess would like very much to mentor a chapter member who would be willing to be President of the Kittitas Chapter in the future. Contact Phil for more information about this position.
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A Very Informative Article The article: “A Climate Resilience Guide For Small Forest Landowners In Eastern Washington” provides extensive information about anticipated effects of climate change on forests and actions you can take to help keep your forest healthy and thriving. Check it out here. In the State of Washington, on a scale of 1 to 100, Kittitas County ranks 92 in terms of wildfire risk. (Headwaters economics, Jan, 2022). “We can’t keep the forest from burning, the only decision space we have is how it will burn” — in the canopy or on the ground. With vegetation management and prescribed fire we can keep wildfire out of the canopy and on the ground. **********************************************************************************************
Relevant NEWS– 2023-2025 Central Washington has been identified as one of ten landscapes across the country to be part of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy, which will address the Wildfire Crisis in the Western U.S. This is called the “Central Washington Initiative” and includes portions of Kittitas County. The Kittitas Chapter is participating in the advisory group for the CWI. Kittitas county was awarded $10 million under the Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG). These funds will be used for targeted vegetation management priorities to achieve fire resiliency, mostly on private and municipal land. The Kittitas Fire Adapted Communities Coalition (KFACC) was instrumental in acquiring this grant.
Chapter member Tony Craven from Kittitas County Conservation District (KCCD) is active in managing the (CWDG) program.
Factoid – Kittitas County is 61% forested. There are 914,469 forested acres, mostly federal and state. There are 2,600 family forest owners representing 58,000 forest acres (source: UW State Forestland Database, 2007). **********************************************************************************************
Building Fire Adapted Communities Now and for the Future Dr. Erica Fischer | Assistant Professor, Civil & Construction Engineering, Oregon State University College of Engineering speaks about building fire adaptive communities in this 1 hour video. Click Here to watch the video of this lecture.
Kittitas Fire Adapted Communities Coalition. This organization is providing a coordinated approach to assuring that Kittitas County becomes a Fire Adapted Community. KFACC is where the action is in helping our rapidly growing community can deal with the threat of Wildfire. KFACC is an in-person meeting every 2nd Wednesday of every month. For more information, click on: Kittitas Fire Adapted Communities Coalition
The Kittitas County Community Wildfire Protection Plan. If you live or own land in the WUI we suggest you become familiar the CWPP. It is available on the KFACC website link above.
Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative. What is Tapash? Tapash was established in 2007 between major government and tribal landowner agencies in the eastern Cascades of south-central Washington: including USFS, Yakama Nation, WA DNR, WA DFW, and The Nature Conservancy. The Collaborative provides a framework for cooperation and coordination to restore forest resistance & resilence to wildfire and insect and disease attacks to 1.6 million acres. There are three ongoing restoration projects: Little Naches, Oak Creek, and the latest is Manastash-Taneum. These projects include tree thinning and prescribed burning contributing to wood supply and fire risk reduction. For more information click here. *********************************************************************************************
Wood To Energy News KFACC is exploring wood to energy and Biochar possibilities under the USFS Wood Inovation Grant. The new biofuels plant in Lakeview Oregon is expected to convert 136,000 tons of woody biomass and forest by products in 15 million gallons of renewable fuels annually !!! Forest BioMass is also being used for generating electricity! For example: a 25 megawatt (MW) plant takes 600 bone dry tons (BDT) A 25 MW plant requires 40 chip van loads per day. A chip van roughly = 30 green tons or 15 BDT We are also close to using thinned trees to produce BioChar – a great soil ammendment for farmers, nursuries and home gardners. **********************************************************************************************
About Our Chapter Our Kittitas Chapter membership includes 70 family and individual forest owners, forest contractors and others that share our values and interest in family forestry. Our membership represents approximately 8,500 acres. We meet twice a year, in the Spring and the Fall. The Spring meeting focus is educational with guest speakers. The Fall meeting is at a member’s property, a potluck/BBQ and chapter meeting with chapter updates and election of officers.
We are open for new members! Please invite; forest ownership is not a requirement. If you do not own forestland, you can join as an Associate member. WFFA Signs – if you do not have a WFFA sign or want another, send an email to the above chapter email. **********************************************************************************************
Resources And Assistance DNR Regulatory Assistance Services: Our local DNR Service Forester is the go-to person for the DNR Forest Health/Fuels Reduction Cost Share Program and other forestry assistance, including where to get seedlings. For information and contacts for Cost Share Programs, go to: Financial Assistance for Wildfire Resilience and Forest Health | WA – DNR. For information and contact numbers on the duties of Regulation Assistance Foresters and the Fish and Wildlife Biologist, click on click here. Remember: To harvest trees you need a FPA (Forest Practices Application) from WA DNR. It is advisable to have an active FPA to take advantage of fluctuations in log prices and contractor availability. A Long-Term Application (LTA) is recommended. A LTA is good for 15 years vs the standard 3 year FPA. FPA exceptions are: 5000 BF per year for personal use on the property and trees within a tree length and one-half of a structure.
OFFICERS: President: Phil Hess Sec./Treas: Patty O’Hearn Email: kittitas@wafarmforestry.com