Save a Forest in Southworth, WA

Southworth Forest Update:

Concerns Raised Over Legality of John Sedgwick Deforestation

Posted August 11, 2023 by Southworth Forest

Danger tree permits do not allow "ground disturbing activities" such as grading, but the excavation in this August 2023 photo at John Sedgwick Middle School is within the danger tree permit area. The permit for the running track construction in the background did not authorize the significant grading in the adjacent deforested area.

Work in August 2023 has continued at John Sedgwick Middle School to convert its forested area to grass, and the community is concerned that the activity violates the limitations of a danger tree permit obtained by South Kitsap School District (SKSD) for the forest removal. Through information provided on the permit and from district administration, as well as photos on the ground, it appears the proper permit for this conversion was not obtained.

Danger tree permits allow applicants to remove trees that pose a danger to a habitable structure, but they do not allow for the total conversion of a forested area to other use. On their permit, the district proposed that the forested area "will be leveled and put back to grass" even though the County states on the permit that "This permit is ONLY for the removal of trees. This does NOT include ground disturbing activities, such as: clean-up of stumps, brush, surrounding vegetation, etc."

The deforested area near the school has been significantly re-graded to the extent that a Site Development Activity Permit (SDAP) should be necessary. The district has one such permit concurrently for the adjacent installation of a new running track, but this SDAP was not approved for work in the forested area. In fact, that permit's site plan indicates that excess excavations would be disposed off-site. Instead, SKSD appears to be using the running track's authorization to conduct total forest conversion activity on the parcel, an inappropriate extension of the track construction.

District Superintendent Tim Winter has confirmed that 1,860 cubic yards of dirt and 654 cubic yards of sod was piled into the danger tree area. Of this material, about 500 cubic yards of dirt and 500 cubic yards of sod remained in that deforested area, which was extensively re-graded in the process of moving all this sod and dirt. Slashings from the trees were mixed into this new grade. All of this work is despite a prohibition of "ground disturbing activities" in effect there because of the danger tree permit limitations.

While grinding of the stumps in the forest is permitted by a danger tree permit, excavating the danger tree removal area is not. Both Winter and Kitsap County permitter Steve Heacock indicate that all stumps in the area will be ground, but photos of the activity show excavation of the rear half of the forested area that goes much further. A substantial depth has been graded, and PVC piping in the area has been seen torn up. Danger tree permits seek to protect vegetation under the trees, but nothing has survived in the total conversion and re-grading of this area.

The removal of all the trees remains a questionable choice by the district as well. Winter admits that no arborist was consulted to provide guidance about whether some trees could be saved. A statement by Heacock that the stand of trees was widely burdened by rot was not confirmed by photos of the logs during removal. Of the 90 trees removed, certainly some could have been preserved. While the permit requires replanting three trees for every one removed, there is no indication as to where the forest will be replaced at the school. The County allowed the conversion to proceed without a required landscaping plan in place prior to approval.

Concerns and photos demonstrating over-clearing and grading violations in the forested area (including those seen in the articles on this website) have been sent to the County, including Heacock, but a records request indicates that they have failed to generate a code compliance case. Heacock did not answer community questions about the quantity of soil and sod that the County will tolerate in apparent violation of danger permit parameters. Instead, he obtusely repeated the intent of SKSD and need for a landscaping plan that alone cannot justify the violations.

We strongly disagree with Heacock's judgment on this permit, and this is not the first time he has failed to satisfactorily respond to Southworth community concerns about danger tree violations. In 2019, a forest near the ferry terminal was converted to pasture by Meghan and Clint Edwards using solely a danger tree permit. Heacock declined to stop work at that conversion while it was in progress, leading to significant additional damage, including timber trespass on multiple neighboring parcels. A violation was eventually declared in that case, and a restorative permit remains in process, but the community has dealt with the environmental impacts for years.

At John Sedgwick Middle School, the forested character of the school will not recover for decades, if at all. The lack of an arborist consultation to preserve that character and lessen climate impacts is careless. Winter cites the preservation of the new running track as another reason for the forest destruction, fueling suspicions that investment in sports is more important than investment in climate resilience. Both SKSD and the County have failed our children during not just this extraordinarily hot summer, but all of those to come.

In late July 2023, thousands of cubic yards of sod and dirt were moved into the deforested area west of the school. The district used this area as staging for running track construction even though neither the track's permit nor the danger tree permit allows such usage there.

The trees removed from the front of the school showed no obvious signs of rot when laying in the parking lot. No arborist was hired by the district to determine if any of the trees in this area could be saved. Instead, the district claimed that every tree posed a danger to students and structures.

Over 2,500 cubic yards of dirt and sod are piled on the deforested area in addition to the shredded remnants of the trees. Danger tree permits do not allow "ground disturbing activities," and these massive piles, about 1,000 cubic yards of which remaining in the area, violate the permit's limitations.

Dirt and sod from the track installation are spread over the deforested area despite the danger tree permit's prohibition on re-grading. PVC piping is torn out of the ground, indicating that excavation work is occurring deeper than the original forest surface. Danger tree permits require the preservation of understory vegetation.

The approved permit materials for the new running track construction do not allow for excavation or any earth-moving work in the previously forested area atop this site map. Excavation notes on these engineering designs indicate that excess materials are to be disposed off-site, not in the adjacent danger tree area.

The light blue dotted lines in this approved permit map designate the disturbed area of the new running track construction. The forested area is outside of the scope of this track's permit, but the district has extended the construction zone all the way to the west edge of the school building as a potential violation of both its concurrently active permits.