A valley of farmed timber owned by Weyerhaeuser is shown in this courtesy photo.
Hunters and other outdoors enthusiasts received a windfall of good news this week when the Weyerheuser timber company announced a reversal of policy regarding land access on parts of their expansive timber holdings in southwest Washington.
Beginning immediately the public will again be allowed to access 6,638 acres of Weyerhaeuser land located in remote swaths of Cowlitz, Pacific, and Wahkiakum counties. The newly designated “Feel Free to Hunt” sections are situated adjacent to Department of Natural Resources lands. That change came about after Weyerhaeuser enrolled those bits of their sprawling tree farm in the Private Lands Access program offered by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“We are excited that Weyerhaeuser Company has chosen to provide free public hunting access on these parcels,” said Kessina Lee, WDFW Region 5 director, in a press release “This greatly expands portions of their property for hunting opportunities for our southwest Washington hunters and those who visit from around the state.”
Five years ago, Weyerhaeuser instituted a controversial pay-to-access permit system for 340,000 acres of their lands that are popular with hunters, mushroom pickers, mountain bike riders, birders, and other nature lovers. The blowback was swift and harsh from locals who’d grown accustomed to accessing those areas at their leisure.
“Weyerhaeuser is pleased to offer the opportunity for hunters to recreate on our tree farms,” said Jammer Free, Weyerhaeuser area manager, in the release. “While our recreation program already offers a diversity of permitted, leased, and open access options for getting outdoors, this new partnership with WDFW will expand recreationists’ opportunity to safely experience our timberlands and its wildlife inhabitants on 6,000 acres of scenic Weyerhaeuser working forest.”
Open access on that acreage began immediately after the announcement. It’s unclear if the change in policy will be permanent or temporary and a request for clarification from Weyerhaeuser was not addressed prior to deadline for this story. As of 2018, there were 1.3 million acres of private lands open to the public through the WDFW private land access program.
“People can hunt there they just need to make sure to look at Weyerhaeuser’s rules that are listed in the news release. But they are free to go out there without a permit,” noted Sam Montgomery, communications manager for WDFW, in a conversation with The Chronicle.
Montgomery explained that most of the sections that have been reopened to public access are located in the evergreen triangle between Longview, Naselle, and Ryderwood. She pointed out that black bears, deer, and elk are commonly found in those timber plantations and clearcuts. Montgomery also added that there is a map available online that outlines the specific areas where the permit requirement has been lifted.
“I’ve gotten a lot of phone calls from people who are really excited about the access and want to get a copy of that map so I’ve been sending a lot of them out,” said Montgomery. “I think it’s really good for Washington hunters.”
Access to those lands will begin one hour before sunrise and end one hour after sunset. Scouting is allowed and hunting is allowed for any legal animals with any legal weapon. However, hunting blinds and tree stands are not allowed. Access is allowed with motorized vehicles anywhere that gates are open and non-motorized traffic, such as bikes, are allowed behind locked gates in applicable areas.
Game Management Units that fall within the open access area include Willapa Hills (506) and Ryderwood (530). Hunters are not allowed to cut across Weyerhaeuser lands that are not enrolled in the Private Lands Access program. An electronic copy of a map detailing the coordinates of the recently opened areas is available online at privatelands.wdfw.wa.gov/private_lands/hunt/850/.
A full list of rules relating to access and conduct on Weyerhaeuser land can be found online at weyerhaeuser.com/recreational-access/northwest-region/faqs/.
