Citizen Science: Conifer Understory Tree Study

The Foundation launched its first citizen science survey in fall 2021 to track the change over time in the number of dead understory conifer trees in proportion to live understory trees, and to record where in the park the problem is most prevalent. Understory trees are the future of our forest and are dying from more severe summer droughts in recent years, likely from climate change. Their loss can affect the forest’s ability to regenerate itself over the long term.

Several of the Foundation’s board members became concerned when they started seeing many dead and dying western hemlocks and western redcedars in the park understory in 2016, the year following a severe summer drought. We have had several more dry and hot summers since then, and it appears that climate change is having an impact in the park and elsewhere in western Washington on the “future forest” - trees that would eventually grow into the forest canopy.

Coming Soon: Data will be normalized by calculating trees per mile of trail for display in graphs by segment and area of the park to better represent the density of trees.