Washington DNR Ecosystem Services Inventory and Asset Plan

Washington's public lands include forests, aquatic lands, and natural areas. Photo: E. Inclán

Helping public lands diversify revenue while meeting climate and conservation goals

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages 5.6 million acres of trust, aquatic, and natural-area lands that generate revenue for trust beneficiaries. The state also wants these lands to advance climate and conservation goals. Under a 2023 legislative proviso, DNR commissioned us to develop an ecosystem services inventory and asset plan and explore what might be possible on its lands.

Our team built a statewide geospatial inventory of DNR's forests, aquatic lands, and uplands. We evaluated eight emerging ecosystem service markets and modeled the revenue each could generate and what it would cost DNR to participate. For forest carbon, we used a marginal abatement cost curve to identify where management changes could pay off. Working with a stakeholder Work Group, we built a screening tool to rate each market by criteria such as revenue potential, environmental benefit, market readiness, and legal considerations.

The analysis pointed to four markets with the most near-term potential: avoided wildfire emissions, regulatory carbon, voluntary carbon, and water quantity. The inventory and asset plan will help DNR prioritize the markets worth pursuing and test the most promising through a pilot, once it secures authority to sell credits.