Partner Profile | Chelan County, Natural Resources Department

Written by: Signe Stroming, Project Development Manager

Launching a Forest Resilience Bond (FRB) project requires collaboration, innovation, and dedication – not only from Blue Forest, but also from the partners with whom we work. The recent launch of the Upper Wenatchee I FRB in partnership with Chelan County is a testament to that fact.

Chelan County is home to about 80,000 people and houses four of the top 10 communities most at risk for wildfire in Washington state. With more than 1.3M acres of National Forest lands within the County boundaries, there is a clear need for coordination and collaboration in the natural resource space. And Chelan County has stepped up to that challenge.

Blue Forest began exploring an FRB with Chelan County Natural Resources Department (CCNRD) in 2020. At that point, what conservation finance could look like in the area was still murky. By listening to local partners and organizations about their priorities and understanding the landscape, the Upper Wenatchee Pilot Project emerged as a top contender for this innovative approach. While the Forest Service led fore, the FRB project could accelerate the pace of wildfire risk reduction in the wildland-urban interface around the communities of Lake Wenatchee and Plain.

Chelan County is the first local government to act as implementation coordinator in a Forest Resilience Bond project. In that role, Chelan County Natural Resources Department (CCNRD) manages implementation of planned activities, such as forest thinning and culvert removal, on behalf of and with oversight from the USDA Forest Service.

In 2023, Chelan County became the first county in the Pacific Northwest to have a Good Neighbor Authority agreement with a National Forest. All implementation partners must have some kind of agreement with the Forest Service to implement forest management activities on National Forest System (NFS) lands. These agreements are key to expanding the capacity of partners who can help implement critical landscape restoration work. The Good Neighbor Authority is most often used to enable state agencies to implement stewardship activities on National Forest System lands, and it’s rare for a local government like a county to have the partnership capacity to enter into such an agreement.

In addition to the staff time and effort to coordinate the implementation of this project, Chelan County is the first county to contribute to an FRB project as a beneficiary. In August 2024, Chelan County Commissioners approved contributions to the FRB project implementation based on modeling performed by Blue Forest that demonstrated the connection between restoration activities and the local restoration economy, including anticipated jobs sustained over the life of the project. This is a landmark contribution from the County and an acknowledgment of the connection between resilient landscapes and resilient local economies.

Beyond the FRB, CCNRD has been working on an array of initiatives to improve forest resilience and the local restoration economy over the last few decades. CCNRD has been exploring the potential for a local forest products campus to attract new forest products business and biomass utilization opportunities. CCNRD has also been working to improve the health of aquatic ecosystems by supporting the planning and implementation of projects to remove barriers to fish passage in streams or restore aquatic habitat complexity. CCNRD has also been coordinating with other county departments on parks, planning, and water resources.

At Blue Forest, we are excited to partner with local governments in this way to support resilient forests, watersheds, and communities.