Save a Forest in Southworth, WA

Southworth Forest Update:

Clear-cutting Taints John Sedgwick Middle School

Posted July 17, 2023 by Southworth Forest

John Sedgwick Middle School touts itself as a STEM school on the front of its building but obviously has work to do in teaching climate science. Mature conifer trunks lie in front of the school after its deforestation in July, 2023.

Port Orchard's John Sedgwick Middle School long enjoyed one of the most beautiful and environmentally sustaining campuses in the South Kitsap School District due to its magnificent conifer trees. Mature forests are critical to diminishing the impacts of climate change, and this school set the standard for establishing a balance between development and the environment. That is, until 2023.

The district obtained a danger tree permit approved by Kitsap County's Steve Heacock in June, 2023 and promptly removed all the mature, mostly conifer trees in the forest near the school shortly thereafter, an estimated 20,000 board feet of lumber. Authorized by Director of Facilities & Operations Charles J. Riley, District Grounds Lead Patrick Burke sought the permit, citing the school's trees as a liability and detriment to the campus. With extremely poor grammar in the permit application materials, the district indicated that its forest was to be converted to grass.

According to the permit, the trees "jeopardize school security by obstructing the line of sight between school building and the playing fields and may cause injuries from falling debris and broken sidewalks. In addition, their proximity to the building is causing damage to the roof." [sic] Using this reasoning, every mature conifer tree within roughly 150 feet of the school could be removed, with no stated intention to replace them with young trees. No effort was made to selectively remove the closest trees to the structure or merely thin the school's forest.

Proper forest management can mitigate risks from large trees. Clear-cutting a forest because it is inconvenient or potentially liable teaches the students of the school (and the public) that forests are a mere nuisance not worth managing to balance potential problems with the life-sustaining, climate-protecting benefits of the trees. By this reasoning, forests are undesirable because a branch may fall on someone and staff cannot be bothered to monitor school grounds from outside the school's structure. (No windows in the building face this direction anyway.)

The Southworth area continues to suffer an increasing loss of tree canopy, and the totality of the tree removal at John Sedgwick Middle School is excessive and indicative of lazy, ineffective maintenance. The legality of the deforestation has also been questioned. The school should take responsibility for its worsening carbon impact and encourage its students to better value the management of trees and forests. After all, our climate is their future.

The entirety of the school's western forest was eliminated because it inconvenienced staff and purportedly posed excessive liability. The permit stated that staff could not see from the building to play fields to the west, but there are no windows on this side of the building anyway. The forest here was about 125 feet wide, and not a single tree was saved.

The site plan submitted by South Kitsap School District for this deforestation's permit shows the areas to be converted to grass. It contains embarrassing grammatical errors, as do the rest of the permit materials, which doesn't instill confidence in the administration of the school or district. Add English to climate science as an area of instructional concern.

This view of the school shows the previously forested areas on the once beautiful campus. The school continued to use this photo to advertise itself after the deforestation. Without many of its towering conifer trees, the school has worsened its carbon balance considerably and lessened opportunities to teach students about the benefits of mature forests.