The aim of this page is to catalog and communicate the structure, source, and content of data shown in the Forest Health Tracker while key terminology is defined in the glossary.  There is a lot of data from different land and resource management agencies and landowners coming together in Forest Health Tracker. Transparency and clarity on where and how the data is sourced, processed, cataloged, and displayed is important.

Willing land and resource managers submit data to this site about their planned and completed projects that have forest health and resilience as a primary objective. Information submitted includes spatial location, treatment type, project phase, and lead implementer and partner organizations. The data can be viewed independently, as well as within the context of other projects and DNR established priority landscapes.  DNR is not the arbiter of whether a project submitted to this website is motivated by forest health, but instead it is the responsibility of each organization and individual that submits their projects to understand the state’s definition of forest health and screen their projects accordingly.

Forest health project data can be submitted in two ways:  

(1) All Forest Health Tracker approved account users can add or update an individual forest health project though the site at any time.  Website administrators review project submissions before public display

(2) Organizations can submit and update records in Forest Health Tracker for multiple forest health projects at one time through a bulk upload process of geodatabase and/or tabular data.  To facilitate this upload, each organization must work with DNR to select their appropriate data sets and map their data management system to the Forest Health Tracker data fields.  This exercise documents the alignment of each data sets data organization to a consistent suite of data fields in this system.  Organizations can remove or edit project details for individual projects through the Forest Health Tracker website at anytime.  The data mapping documentation for the organizations (including programs and data sets within organizations) that have established this process for bulk uploading is available to view, and they include:

• US Fish and Wildlife Service
• USDA Forest Service – Region 6 - ** Note, we are currently working to update the data mapping for USDA Forest Service data, including pulling from new datasets.  The mapping below will be updated shortly.
  • US Forest Service NEPA project boundaries (Data source is FSGeodata Clearinghouse)
  • Silviculture/Reforestation
  • Hazardous Fuels
  • Timber projects
• Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
• Washington Department of Natural Resources
  • NE and SE Region Landowner Assistance program
  • NE and SE Region State Trust Lands
  • Forest Stewardship Plans
• Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission

Additional data layers are brought into Forest Health Tracker by DNR for landscape context on the Project Map and in Priority Landscapes.

Project map optional data layers for viewing

•  All Project Locations - Simple: Data sourced from Forest Health Tracker project detail for each project.  Data is dynamic, as it is updated along with updates to project list and individual project details.
• All Project Locations - Detail:  Data sourced from Forest Health Tracker project detail for each project.  Data is dynamic, as it is updated along with updates to project list and individual project details.
• All Project Treatment Areas:  Data sourced from Forest Health Tracker project detail for each project.  Data is dynamic, as it is updated along with updates to project list and individual project details.
• 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan:  Eastern Washington Priority Landscapes:  Data sourced from DNR Forest Resilience Division for current priority landscapes.  This layer is updated as new priority landscapes are identified and as boundaries are adjusted.
• Western WA Forest Health Priority Landscapes:  Data sourced from DNR Forest Resilience Division for current priority landscapes.
• All DNR Upland Regions:  Data sourced from DNR.
• All Interaction/Event Locations:  Data source from Forest Health Tracker project detail entries.  Data is dynamic, as it is updated along with updates to the project list and individual project details.
• Washington Counties
• Washington Legislative Districts
• Central Washington Initiative boundary.  Data sourced from US Forest Service.  Data layers relevant to this initiative are available through their ArcGIS online feature service.

Priority Landscapes data layers:

• To be added

Forest Health Tracker also supports the management and display of financial information that supports forest health projects.  Currently the system includes forest health related federal grants managed by DNR, as well as agreements that document the dedication of state funds to forest health projects across all land ownerships.  DNR staff manually enter and upload grants and agreements data into the system to create records.  An automated process updates Forest Health Tracker daily associated with these financial records from DNR's financial data management system which updates information including expenditures, new vendor information, and data fields linking information to specific grants and budget codes.  At this time, only finances that flow through DNR are recorded in this system.

As this platform expands, so will the data sources and structure.