Washington § 28B.30.390 - Heritage orchard program.

Washington State University shall establish a heritage orchard program and adopt rules to implement this section.

(1) At minimum, the heritage orchard program must:

(a) Maintain a registry of heritage orchards in Washington, including their locations; and

(b) Develop and maintain a list of rare and lost apple varieties.

(2) For the purposes of this section, "heritage orchard" means:

(a) An orchard with at least five apple trees that are more than 74 years old; or

(b) At least one tree of a rare or lost apple variety, as defined by the heritage orchard program.

Findings—Intent—2026 c 119: "(1) The legislature finds that the apple is intertwined with the history of Washington and the United States. American propagation of apples began as early as the 1600s and by 1900, there were approximately 20,000 known varieties of apples across North America.

(2) The legislature further finds that:

(a) Since 1900, half of North America's known apple varieties have become extinct; and

(b) Dedicated Washingtonians have discovered at least 29 varieties of apples previously thought to be extinct. Such "lost apples" are often located in small orchards originally planted on homesteads or other family farms.

(3) It is, therefore, the intent of the legislature to create a heritage orchard program to support the conservation of rare apple varieties and to preserve this element of Washington's history." [ 2026 c 119 s 1.]