### Meeting Overview The Whatcom County Council Climate Action and Natural Resources Committee met on Tuesday, October 7, 2025 to receive the Forest Resilience Plan from the Forest Resilience Task Force. After more than a year of work, the Task Force delivered a strategic planning document with four major goals and 125 action items, though presenters emphasized the plan is not complete and needs further development. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Forest Resilience Plan:** A strategic document developed to address forest management challenges related to climate change, economic sustainability, and multiple-use management across Whatcom County's forests. **Forest Advisory Committee (FAC):** County advisory body tasked with advising the council on ongoing forest land management issues, now designated to continue refining the resilience plan. **Forest Resilience Task Force:** Multi-disciplinary group formed in 2023 to develop the forest plan, including members from various advisory committees and community stakeholders. **Climate Resilience:** The ability of forest ecosystems to withstand and adapt to changing climate conditions while continuing to provide economic, environmental, and social benefits. **Substitute Resolution:** A revised version of the original resolution proposed by the Forest Advisory Committee that receives the plan as an "initial draft" rather than a final document. **Multiple-Use Management:** Forest management approach that balances timber production, recreation, wildlife habitat, water protection, and other forest values. **Watershed Health:** Management practices focused on maintaining water quality, stream flows, and soil moisture within forest watersheds. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Kaylee Galloway | Committee Chair, Council Member | | Todd Donovan | Committee Member, Council Member | | Mark Stremler | Committee Member, Council Member | | Carl Weimer | Forest Resilience Task Force member, presenter | | Steve Harrell | Forest Resilience Task Force member, presenter | | Tracy Petrouski | Forest Advisory Committee Vice Chair | | David Janicki | Forest Advisory Committee Chair | | Satpal Sidhu | County Executive | | Aly Pennucci | Executive's Office | | Kayla Schott-Bresler | Executive's Office | ### Background Context Whatcom County contains 1.4 million acres of forest land, with 1 million acres already protected in federal and state reserves. The county has direct influence over only about 130,000 acres of private forestland. Climate change is creating new challenges for forest management, including altered precipitation patterns, increased fire risk, and changing ecological conditions. The Forest Resilience Task Force was formed in 2023 to develop a comprehensive approach to these challenges, but the scope proved larger than anticipated within the given timeline and resources. The plan represents an attempt to balance multiple stakeholder interests, from timber industry needs to tribal treaty rights to recreation and conservation goals. The document contains four major strategic goals with 14 objectives and over 125 specific action items, though many of these lack prioritization, budgets, or clear implementation assignments. ### What Happened — The Short Version Task Force members Carl Weimer and Steve Harrell presented their year-long work on the Forest Resilience Plan, emphasizing that while they've created a good strategic framework, the plan is incomplete and shouldn't be adopted as final. They outlined four major goals covering economic sustainability, climate adaptation, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and fire prevention. The Forest Advisory Committee, through Chair David Janicki and Vice Chair Tracy Petrouski, recommended accepting the plan as an "initial draft" and assigning the FAC to continue development work. County Executive Satpal Sidhu raised concerns about staff capacity and questioned the cost-benefit of extensive planning for the county's limited forest acreage. The committee voted 2-1 to recommend the FAC's substitute resolution, which formally receives the plan as a starting document and directs continued development. Chair Galloway amended language about staff support to acknowledge resource constraints while committing to good-faith collaboration. ### What to Watch Next - Forest Advisory Committee will begin reviewing and revising sections of the plan, starting with background information they consider inaccurate - Council consideration of the substitute resolution at a future meeting - Decisions about staff support and prioritization for forest planning work relative to other county initiatives - Potential consultation with other advisory committees and public input processes ---