Washington
Maintaining Essential Habitat
Habitat Conservation Plans
Most of Green Diamond's Washington timberlands are managed under a groundbreaking Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) that protects 51 fish and wildlife species. An HCP is a voluntary forest management plan developed in cooperation with the landowner and a number of governmental agencies. HCPs provide habitat protection in exchange for regulatory certainty.
Our Washington HCP covers 30 aquatic species including coho, chum and chinook salmon; bull trout and searun cutthroat trout; a variety of amphibious species; and 21 wildlife species, including marbled murrelets, bald eagles and other species on our ownership in Mason, Grays Harbor and Thurston counties in Washington state.
This HCP marked the first in which endangered species and water quality issues were addressed together, effectively bridging the Endangered Species and Clean Water Acts. Green Diamond worked with a variety of stakeholders including state and federal agencies, tribes and conservation groups to create the plan. On Green Diamond’s other lands in Washington State, the Forests & Fish Law applies.