A New Forest Emerging

Since the ground has dried out from last weeks gully-washers we have tried to finish our season of logging while cleaning up winter storm damage.

On my walk up the hill today, I noticed the growth on the seedlings we had planted along this skid road.

The seedlings are now about 5 years along and are starting to emerge from the brush like ground blackberries, thistles, buckbrush, wild roses and salal. Within another year or two, the seedlings will overtake the taller brush and trees like wild cherry, hazelnut, vine maple and within five years will be taller than the large leaf maple and alder sapling trees.

It was difficult to see if our planting was successful until these youngsters got established and began to overtake their competitors. Now that the trees are more visible I can see a couple of spots on this small hillside that may need an extra tree or two plugged in when we begin planting again.