There would be no shout of “Timber,” no warning whirr of saws, not even the low chatter of a logging crew – just the silent fall of a 100-year-old Douglas fir.
The trees can be up to 40 inches in diameter and weigh more than several tons – a big problem when they’re falling from the sky without warning, and there are campers in the area.
“What looks like a healthy tree can just fall down without any notice in an area where we have people camping,” said park manager Jim Schuh.
Roughly 50 Douglas fir trees around Moran State Park’s Environmental Learning Center and portions of the North Campground upper loop are currently being logged because they are infected with laminated root rot, a native species of fungus that rots the tree roots. Some of the forest giants now being felled are over 100 years old.
“It decays the structural integrity of the wood to the point where you could take the wood and pull it apart with your hands,” said Rob Fimbel with the Washington State Parks’ Stewardship Program.
This spring a DNR pathologist was called in for a consultation; as a result of his recommendations, the North End campground has been closed for the summer. The park has had to refund previous reservations, or make room elsewhere for these anticipated guests. In addition, the cabins around the Environmental Learning Center have been closed.
“The most difficult part for us is that these pathogens can cause trees that look healthy to fail and come down … with little or no warning,” said Fimbel.
He said the current efforts are a short-term fix; this fall the DNR pathologist who made the initial diagnosis and recommendation for treatment will work with park officials to come up with a longer-term plan. They will continue using GPS and GIS systems to identify and map the diseased areas.
“You can never remove all risk, but I think we can significantly reduce the level of risk to people and structures,” Fimbel said.
A WSU web page on laminated root rot states that Douglas fir, mountain hemlock, western hemlock, grand and Pacific silver fir are all considered “highly susceptible” to the disease.
The fungus spreads by root-to-root contact between trees, but does not spread through soil or air on its own. It can remain viable in stumps for up to 50 years, infecting any new trees of species susceptible to the disease.
The paper recommends that “All trees in the disease center, as well as uninfected trees within 50 feet, should be cut” and replaced with less susceptible species. “It is important to cut the adjacent trees that do not show symptoms as the disease may be in an early stage and thus undetectable, or the tree may become infected later as its roots grow towards the disease center.”
“One 50-year rotation of tolerant, resistant or immune species such as ponderosa pine, western white pine, lodgepole pine, or western redcedar should result in the disease dying out on the site, provided that susceptible trees are not permitted to be reestablished,” it says.
Another recommendation: using bulldozers, excavators and/or explosives to push over trees and uproot stumps, killing the fungus by exposing it to the air.
“We probably would be looking at removing species that were susceptible to the pathogen and replanting those types of trees that are tolerant or resistant to the pathogen,” Fimbel said.
Fimbel said that if more extensive tree removal is prescribed, public meetings will be held so that the community can express its opinions and suggestions. He will also need to obtain permission from the Washington State Parks Commission before the logging commenced. Schuh said there are pockets of laminated root rot “all over” Orcas Island.
For more information and photos of laminated root rot, go here.
