How Much Trust Land Is Being Removed From Your Community?
Washington’s state trust lands exist for a specific legal purpose: to generate revenue for defined beneficiaries, including public schools, fire districts, libraries, ports, and other local services. These lands are not discretionary assets — they are managed under a fiduciary obligation established at statehood and affirmed repeatedly in law and in court. To learn more about State Trust Lands, please visit our Trust Lands 101 page.
In August 2025, Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove issued an order removing more than 77,000 acres of legally manageable state trust forest land from the active land base used to generate that revenue. The acres subject to this order span 19 Washington counties and multiple trust categories. The tool below allows beneficiaries, local officials, and interested community members to see precisely how many of those acres are located in their county and tax code area — and what the removal means in estimated dollar terms for their community. The removal of these acres not only reduces the direct revenue to the beneficiaries, but also eliminates the harvest excise tax paid by the timber purchasers. It also risks the financial stability of the Department itself.
How to Use This Tool
Select your county from the first dropdown. The Trust and Tax Code Area dropdowns will automatically update to show only the options available in your county. You can refine further by selecting a specific trust or tax code area, or leave those set to “All” to see your full county. Click Search to display results.
Results include the total acreage affected in your selection, a breakdown by land trust, and an estimated value for those acres. Use the Download PDF button to save a report suitable for sharing with your local board, elected officials, or community members.
Please see below the tool for additional information on the data and how to calculate rough estimates of the potential revenue impacts to your specific tax district.