California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE)

The conversion of forest lands to non-forest uses, especially conversion to residential development, is of significant concern to the Washington State Legislature and Washington Department of Natural Resources. As a result of a rapidly growing population, the risk of conversion is especially high in Puget Sound’s watersheds. The objective of this study was to develop a regional characterization study for Washington State that defines residential development as it is implemented in the Puget Sound region to estimate the emissions associated with conversion of forested land for residential development.