The Washington Court of Appeals recently held that timber companies cannot be held strictly liable for their timber harvest activities.

Washington provides immunity from liability for unintentional injuries to landowners, public or private, who allow members of the public to use the land for purposes of outdoor recreation without charging a fee of any kind for the use.

Conservation easements can be useful to protect or preserve forests, wetlands, wildlife habitat and agricultural land and generally benefit the public because the result is protection of these treasured areas.

LUPA is the “land use petition act”, which is the short title for the statute (RCW 36.70C) which governs judicial review of land use decisions. In 1995, the Washington State Legislature adopted LUPA to provide direct judicial review of land use decisions.

Rainwater harvesting is not specifically regulated by the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology). Ecology does have a policy which indicates that beneficial use of rainwater does not require a water right

Owning an illegally created lot can lead to road blocks when it is time to develop the property.

Land use practitioners should at least consider whether mediation is an appropriate method of resolution of land use disputes at the local level.

Alternative dispute resolution, like arbitration, is becoming ever more popular as the costs to litigate a lawsuit in court increase.