How to Save a Forest
In 1977, Neil Colburn and Jack Noel, the owners of a Whidbey Island custom sawmill, received notification of an upcoming timber sale on state land. Noting that the volume of timber offered totaled more than twice the annual timber cut in the entire county, they went to look at the site. They found a beautiful, untouched forest. Colburn later recalled that his first thought was that he wanted his as yet unborn children to be able to see what this old-growth forest looked like. He shared his concern with friends and neighbors and followed the bidding process. Soon after the contract was awarded, he witnessed the movement of equipment to the site and rushed to warn the community.
Come quickly! Loggers are in the woods. It's an emergency!
With this call to action, Colburn alerted his neighbors to the imminent demise of 255 acres of one of the last remaining ancient forests in the lowlands of western Washington. His neighbor Debora Valis would later reminisce that on that day 42 years ago "we stood in front of the trees. Some of us stood where a tree would fall if it were cut down. We lay down in front of the bulldozers. We stared the loggers down. It was tense and terrifying, but they blinked first and left after a few hours' stand off. We had no idea what we were doing. We just knew it was so obviously important."
The neighbors quickly incorporated as a non-profit organization called Save the Trees, engaged legal counsel, and filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Natural Resources, alleging the agency had violated the Washington State Environmental Policy Act by not completing an environmental impact statement before selling the timber on public land. The court agreed, issuing an injunction:
There is a reasonable likelihood that the proposed sale and clearcutting of the .... timber is a major action significantly affecting the quality of the environment..... Accordingly, it is hereby: ORDERED, that the defendants... be and are hereby enjoined and restrained until further order of the court from proceeding any further to execute or carry out the provisions of the contract of sale of the timber...
--Island County Superior Court, 1977
The citizen activists of Save the Trees had initiated a process that would eventually lead to dramatic changes in the perception and stewardship of the remaining old-growth forests in Washington.
The Department of Natural Resources was pushed into acknowledging the ecological significance of old-growth forests and in 2004 the agency was directed by the legislature to conduct an inventory of old-growth forest stands on state lands as defined by three of the foremost old-growth forest ecologists--Dr. Jerry Franklin, Dr. Tom Spies and Dr. Bob Van Pelt. These scientists developed a screening tool termed the "Weighted Old Growth Habitat Index" (WOGHI) to quantify forest stands. The committee recognized that a forest's structural development--large old trees, large snags, large decaying logs on the forest floor and a diversity of tree sizes and species-- is most critical to habitat richness. Structural elements are relatively easy to measure and are strong indicators of the diversity of species and ecological functions of a forest. Any stand of trees in western Washington with a WOGHI score greater than 60 (out of a maximum of 100) is considered to be high quality old-growth forest habitat.
With my son Nicholas, I recently wandered into this forest that was ultimately protected by inclusion in South Whidbey State Park. The signature trail through the forest is named in honor of Harry and Myrl Wilbert, members of Save the Trees who painstakingly researched the significance of this old-growth forest and crafted the arguments presented in its defense.
Nicholas and I set out to determine for ourselves the WOGHI score for one hectare, 2.5 acres, or about 1% of the protected old growth forest. We mapped out the survey area within an arc of the Wilbert Trail bounded on the south by a spur trail to a signed "ancient cedar," and on the east by a small gully. Nicholas swam through a sea of sword ferns to individual trees, measured their circumference and called out the data to me as I mapped their individual locations within our survey area.
The WOGHI formula required us to classify the trees on the site into four size categories, measured as dbh (diameter breast height--the standard measure of tree volume). We found fewer than 20 measuring less than 10" in diameter (Class 1), just a handful in Class 2 (10" - 20"), and 52 trees, mostly western hemlocks, in Class 3 at 20"-40." A whopping 34 trees within our hectare boasted a dbh in excess of 40" including two that measured over 90" in diameter!
Later I crunched the numbers into the formula and came up with a WOGHI score of 66.2! A closer look showed that the good score relied heavily on the presence of many very large cedars and Douglas firs plus the diversity in the sizes of the trees.
After our survey we continued on a figure-eight loop hike through the park, ogling the many spectacular trees (one giant cedar topped out at an amazing 109" diameter) and climbing a couple hundred feet up switchbacks to the crest of a drumlin ridge. After that subtle reminder of Whidbey Island's glacial origin, we continued on to the picnic area for lunch accompanied by the soft surf of Admiralty Inlet before continuing through the shuttered campground to our starting point.
It was not a busy day in the park (we only encountered a handful of other hikers) but everyone had a palpable feeling of reverence, including a boy about 5 or 6 years old who admonished us to silence in order to not scare the wildlife. It was a fine day of fresh air, companionship and gratitude for the foresighted individuals who dedicated themselves to protecting this wonderful place.
Continuing in a quantifying state of mind, I wondered if the WOGHI could be adapted to quantify the quality of human communities as well. Seeking a parallel to this index, scored to recognize systems that provide for human well-being while ensuring sustainability for future generations, I discovered the Happy Planet Index (HPI). Introduced by the New Economics Foundation in the UK, this tool was designed to challenge traditional measures of development such as Gross Domestic Product, by incorporating environmental costs and the overall happiness of citizens, assuming most people value health and life satisfaction over sheer wealth. In other words, the best societies allow people to live long and fulfilling lives without infringing on the ability of others now or in the future to do so as well.
Not too surprisingly, Costa Rica has topped the list for more than a decade, with its universally accessible health care, engaged citizens, and efforts toward a reduction of the carbon footprint.
Ultimately it will be these things that will also save the forest of South Whidbey State Park.
--David
