History
Since 2001, the Rural Technology Initiative - in partnership with Washington State government, conservation organizations, and forestry foundations - has been seeking an understanding of the geography and demographics of forest lands and forest landowners in Washington State.
In 2001, RTI produced the Small Forest Landowner Database for the Washington Department of Natural Resources Small Forest Landowner Office. This was a quasi-spatial tabular database, and a first attempt at quantifying the presence and magnitude of small forest landowners in Washington.
Between 2001 and 2007, RTI continued to work towards more accurately and efficiently capturing the variety of forest landowners in Washington and providing agencies and other groups with valuable forest landowner presence and environmental attribute information. The following is a sample of projects completed over the six years:
- Washington DNR 20-Acre Forest land Parcel Study (2004)
- Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board Small Forest Landowner Parcel Identification and County GIS Data Compilation for WRIAs 25 thru 29 (2004)
- Washington DNR Small Forest Landowner Parcel Identification and County GIS Data Compilation for WRIAs 23 & 49 (2005)
- Washington DNR Small Forest Landowner Parcel Identification and County GIS Data Compilation for Clallam and Jefferson Counties (2005)
- Washington DNR Small Forest Landowner Parcel Identification and County GIS Data Compilation for Pacific and Grays Harbor Counties (2006)
In 2006, the Rural Technology Initiative, the Family Forest Foundation, and the Washington Farm Forestry Association, with funding from the USDA Forest Service, began working on creating a statewide, spatially explicit, parcel-based forest land database. Enabled by GIS technologies, the Washington State Forestland Database, an interactive database of forested lands, is the foundation for analysis of the family forest demographic. This database facilitates the assessment of family forest impacts on local and state economies, and provide information on potential challenges and opportunities that family forest owners face in marketing their forest products and environmental services.
However, in order to make this database relevant now and in the future, it was recognized that a concerted effort was needed to produce a comprehensive, consistent, and updatable statewide parcel database.
In response to this need, the Washington State Forestland Database project expanded its objectives to assist in the creation of a statewide parcel database, the Washington State Parcel Database.
Timeline
| Task | Time |
|---|---|
| Encourage the use and need for a statewide parcel database | On-going |
| Form the Parcel Working Group | Q3 2006 |
| Invite project participants | On-going |
| Conduct a user survey | Q1 2007 |
| Conduct a needs assessment | Q2 2007 |
| Document dervivative works | Q2 2007 |
| Collect currently published parcel data | Q3 2007 |
| Document similarities and differences | Q3 2007 |
| Identify greatest common attributes | Q1 2008 |
| Normalize attribute and geometry data | Q1 2008 |
| Create seamless parcel layer | Q2 2008 |
| Test Washington State Parcel Database with Govt Working Group Members | Q3 2008 |
| Begin Phase II | Q1 2009 |
Process
Development of the Washington State Parcel Database is a complicated effort involving the collection and transformation of spatial and tabular data from Washington's 39 counties into a standardized statewide spatial dataset. Resources available in each county to develop and maintain parcel data vary widely. Availability and accuacy of spatial data varies across the State as well.
Learn about the process of creating a statewide parcel database by clicking on the image below.
