I’ve been looking for numbers — how many “backyard forests” are there in the Puget Sound region? Out of the region’s four million plus residents, how many have easy access to a natural forest, either at a nearby park or literally in their own back yards?
I wasn’t having any luck finding an answer to this question online, so I tried to come up with some numbers on my own. I looked at parcel data from King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties and Geographical Information System data from Snohomish County to tease out an order of magnitude of the numbers. (Note that I provide some more detailed information on these data and how I derived them in the “Other Resources” section of this website under “Numbers of Backyard Forests.”)
Below is a summary of what I found:
Number and Size of “Large Lots” in the Puget Sound Region
Over 80,000 households in Snohomish, Pierce, and King Counties live on parcels between one and five acres in size. I believe that many “large lots” like these contain patches of natural forest. The total area of these 80,000 parcels is over 280 square miles. The map below shows an area of unincorporated Snohomish County with many of these large residential lots (in yellow). A Google Earth photo below of the same area shows lots of dark green areas of canopied forest.
Households Within Walking Distance of a Snohomish County Park
In Snohomish County, over 50,000 households are within walking distance of a County park. (This does not include City parks.) For example, the map below shows single-family residential parcels within ½ mile of Meadowdale Beach Park.
Residential Parcels with Year-Round Streams
In Snohomish County, over 10,000 single-family residential parcels have year-round streams running through them. I presume that many of these streams would have natural riparian vegetation growing along their banks. For example, the map below shows buffers along streams (in yellow) running through a residential area.
Subdivisions with Common Areas
In Snohomish County, almost 1,000 parcels were designated as “common areas” comprising 10 square miles. For example, the map below shows a typical subdivision layout with several common areas (in yellow). These are often forested and managed by homeowners’ associations.
Conclusion
The data I have found suggest that there are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of households with good access to backyard forests in the Puget Sound region, either in natural parks within walking distance of their residences, or literally in their own back yards. I think it’s great that so many people have access to natural forests, and that the forests have so many potential recruits to nurture them.