Save a Forest in Southworth, WA

Southworth Forest Update:

Wind Damage Hinders 2025 Progress in Southworth Forest

Posted January 29, 2026 by Southworth Forest

A red alder tree that died two years before was undermined by a combination of flooding rain and heavy wind at the start of 2026, its snag suffering total windthrow. It fell into an area where coast redwoods have been introduced.

Restoration work at the Southworth Forest shifted in 2025 to emphasize the removal of noxious English holly and downed red alder, the latter posing a fire danger given the quantity of 60-year-old trees of that species that thrived since the area's last logging. Massive quantities of fallen trees over the past five years have caused sufficient mass on the forest floor to constitute a fire danger and thus needs removed in all but the trunks. Some were brought down by bomb cyclones while others were likely encouraged by exposure to the neighboring deforestation that continues to affect the area.

Between the heavy, flood-producing rainstorms late in 2025 and the increase in bomb cyclone activity, more trees have fallen in the year than any other since the restoration project started in 2016. Many of these were standing dead trees commonly referred to as snags. It's our intent to leave as many of these snags as possible for wildlife. This forest has a variety of dead alders, partially dead big leaf maples also at the end of their lifespan, and a handful of mature grand fir that have been infested, especially alongside the wetlands. Most of the large snags remaining in the forest came down throughout the year, however, sometimes crushing younger trees previously planted to replace them.

The English holly is a pervasive problem that will likely require another ten years to fully remove from the forest. While herbicides have been applied to some of the most massive holly trees after their removal above ground, some persist from the extended roots, which is common for the species. Closer to the wetlands, mechanical removal includes perpetual shaving of new growth when a holly is cut at the trunk. Gently massaging out the root systems of younger holly clumps is pivotal during the rainy season, when the moist soils make such work possible. Large piles of the cuttings have been hauled from the acreage to adjacent meadows for processing.

Meanwhile, tree planting continues at the project, with the 76 new trees from the prior year joined by 58 so far in the 2025-2026 season. Most of these plantings are concentrated on the southern boundaries, including the area immediately adjacent to the neighboring deforestation. Closer to the wetlands, another 20 coast redwoods have been installed and are thriving, growing throughout the winter season and recovering well if they experience any initial dieback. The greatest loss amongst the new trees continues to happen with western hemlock while the most reliable bare-root or nursery stock remains the Sitka spruce, of which not a single specimen has been lost since their introduction into the forest in 2019.

Moving forward into 2026, the project continues to await the required mitigation of wind and heat impacts by the parcel to the east as part of the development's required corrections via a Hearing Examiner decision. As Kitsap County has failed thus far to ensure protections from these impacts despite their eventual recognition by the Examiner, we've been preparing secondary mitigations along that side of the forest. The community expects that the County will not fully enforce the decision requiring impact mitigation from the developers. Aside from that work, the rest of 2026 will involve the removal of holly, and we're taking a year off from acquiring young tree stock so we can concentrate on that remediation of additional areas first.

As for the falling snags on the site, there are only a few remaining to suffer windthrow or windsnap. Because that generation of the forest is cycling out, the associated clean-up work to reduce the fire danger will reach an end. The fire concerns are new, and the site especially needs cleaned alongside the Southworth Dr. property line because that north end by the roadway is where a fire is most likely to originate. Ten years ago, fire danger in the Puget Sound lowlands was not a significant concern, but with the increasingly dry summers and unusually spotty winter rains, wildfire risks have become an important consideration. Our work becomes all the more important to ensure that the forest can survive whatever climate change throws its way.

A dead mature grand fir exploded partway up its trunk after heavy rains eroded its root ball in late 2025, causing the tree to lean. Insect infestation and consequent woodpeckers further weakened the snag prior to its collapse.

Several large piles of dead oceanspray, red alder, and English holly have been removed from the forest for remediation and fire protection. They'll be burned if they cannot be chipper shredded, which is the environmental preference.