What is the purpose of this permit?
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regulates forest practices on private and state forest land. A permit is not required for every forest practice, but the forest practices rules must be followed when conducting all forest practices activities. There are five classes of of forest practices depending on the types of activities being proposed and their potential impact to public resources (see
WAC 222-16-050). Once an application is received by the DNR it gets assigned a classification which in turn determines the type of permit.
A Class II permit to conduct a forest practice in Eastern Washington is called a Forest Practices Notification (FPN). This permit type is for forest practice activities that have been determined to have a less than ordinary potential to damage a public resource. These do not include proposed operations within "Shorelines of the State" or operations that include forest land conversions. The following activities are examples of the types of proposals that may qualify for the FPN permit in Western Washington: partial cutting of five thousand board feet per acre or less, harvests of less than forty acres, and forest road construction of six hundred or more feet. FPN's have no review period or approval. The FPN must be submitted 5 days prior to the start of work.
Who issues this permit?
Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
How much will this permit cost?
The fee for a Class II FPA is $150 unless the landowner is considered a small forest landowner and the proposal is being conducted on a single continuous ownership consisting of one or more parcels. (see
RCW 76.09.065(1)(A)and(B))
How long will it take to review my application?
Estimated processing time for this permit type is 5 days.
Permit Timeliness Results
Permit Timeliness data collection is in response to a State Auditor’s Performance Audit and RCW 43.42A. Each regulatory agency developed a plan to improve permit clarity, predictability, and timeliness. Each agency considers the customers experience to ensure permit assistance is simple to use, easy to access, and designed in a customer-friendly manner. Agencies report progress to the Governor’s Office for Regulatory Innovation and Assistance (ORIA). ORIA prepares and distributes reports, with participation from the State Auditor’s Office and Results Washington. See latest report here: https://www.oria.wa.gov/ORIA-2020-PermitTimelinessProgressReport.pdf.
All permits submitted for reporting were entered into this Regulatory Handbook. Here are the results of the performance data:
Estimated Time Required By the Agency to Process a Permit Application (Definition)Average number of days from Receipt to Complete: 1Maximum number of days from Receipt to Complete: 4Estimated Time Required By the Agency to Issue a Permit Decision (Definition)Average number of days from Complete Application to Decision: 2.6Maximum number of days from Complete Application to Decision: 5(Summary results based on 80 submittals in 2023)
Where can I get permitting assistance?
Helpdesk phone: (360) 902-1400
Subject matter expert phone: (360) 902-1400
Subject matter expert email:
fpd@dnr.wa.gov