Falling trees cause park closures in Snohomish County

Welcome back to Seattle News. Today I'm your host, Felicia Michelle, here to talk to you about something that's happening in Chenomish County, root rot and the risk of falling trees. It keeps Chenomish County very busy. They've closed off parts of Paradise Conservation Area and all of Southwest County Park due to that risk. But the concerns at the two different spots are different, right? Today, we're going to be welcoming in Sharon Walker, who is the parks director for the Chihomish County. Sharon, thank you so much for joining us. Sharon, we bring you up here. Invitation. Oh, my God. We're so happy to have you. So talk to me about this. I'm brand spanking new to the area. Talk to me like I'm two years old and I don't know anything. In Chihomish County, there's root rot. And so it's the risk of trees falling. But not every tree has the same reason. The things are a little bit different. Can you kind of break that down for us? Yeah, for sure. And actually, we have two different parks that are affected by tree conditions right now. And they're actually different. So the laminated root rot that we're seeing is actually at Paradise Valley Conservation Area. We have about 64 acres of almost 800 acres total for that park that we've identified a really intensive stand or just establishment essentially of this root rot. So, like it sounds like, that's not great for trees, and it does lead to trees, you know, potentially falling over, especially when we hit high wind conditions or just in general. It's a disease that can, you know, basically kill a stand of trees, and in this case, we have so much of it in such an intense pocket that we're closing access to that area because it actually, there are quite a few trails through there, and so just out of safety, we're closing public access to that. The other park which is Southwest County Park is about 120 acres altogether and throughout that park it's a different situation. In that case we have a lot of red alder and red alder just don't live as long as our evergreen trees do which you tend to think of can live for hundreds of years. Red alder really reaches about 75 years and then it has a natural die off and because of the way the trees stand established there it wasn't ever replanted after after it was harvested. So red alder came in first and just the point is that all the trees at this point they're hitting that age where they're dying. So we're seeing branches falling and then also trees falling over as well. I know for people, they love to be outdoors here. That's what I've learned about the Pacific Northwest. People love to be outside. And I think about that because my friends are like, you on a hike yet? Have you gone out here yet? Have you gone out there? If I were out there, if someone was out there walking around, what would be a sign or something that we would see for maybe a tree that maybe has that? And that lets us know, hey, maybe we need to go or maybe we need to pick up the phone and give you a call and let you know about that. Yeah, that's a great question. And for the laminated root rot, I think that that's, and one, I'm not a forester or arborist, so, you know, my information here wouldn't be as thorough as I'm sure one of these specialists would. But with laminated root rot, it's not something you're as likely to notice because it is really something that you would notice around the base of the tree. The red alder is definitely more apparent. If you're walking through an area, you'll see that That branches have fallen off or that there's, you know, areas. Where it's just not leafing out or you'll see, you know, decay on the trunk. And I think, you know, living in this area, you know, folks are used to being out in nature and you do see, you know, trees that have decayed. You know, and again, in this case, it's just that there's so much of it concentrated that you would notice it, I think, especially in the case of the alder, but maybe not so much in the root rot situation. You know, it's funny I asked you that question really because I wanted people to not take it upon themselves and I wanted them to listen to the advisory. So I was like, I know that there is not a way you're probably going to be able to maybe tell that off the bat. So it's important when you put those warnings out that people actually adhere to those because it's a safety issue. It's not just that they don't want you to walk around this part of Snohomish County. It's a safety issue. I want to keep people safe. And and also, too, you want to enjoy the outdoors. You want to make sure you do so safely. Let's talk about what happens next. Like, how does this work? So how long until the public spaces are maybe open or back to normal? Yeah, again, so this is because they're both two different situations. We have slightly different approaches for them. At Paradise Valley with the laminated root rot, we do actually think that we'll be able to get in there probably within about a year and a half and actually remove the trees that are infected. It will basically be a logging operation. Those trees will come down basically through a practice and we'll actually be able to sell off the logs, which will generate enough revenue to cover the cost of them. Yeah, which is great because, you know, tree work is expensive and we don't have budget allocated for that, especially not anything this extensive. In the case of Southwest County Park with the red alder, we really don't have a full plan yet for what we're going to be able to do there. We just know it's so extensive and it's expensive. Red alders in particular, when those come down, they can have a tendency to break apart. So it's not work that our crew would tend to take on just plus numbers of them are so extensive. We'll be looking for some professional help to first target really key areas and then you know looking more holistically at the whole park and what that that could be but you know we're talking about hundreds of trees and certainly not anything that we have budgeted to go in and just do a whole park clearing of the trees of concern. Well, I mean, you described these red elders and that every 75 years they go, and we're out of here. And that's a lot to happen in one swoop there too. So it makes sense that that is a continuing thing that you're working on and trying to figure that part out. So when the trees come down, also, I love that. The money is covered by the selling of the logs, too. That's great to know, too. I know a lot of taxpayers obviously care about that information, want to know that. What happens with the trees when they do come down? Does something get planted in their place or do you just let Mother Nature do her thing? I'm not really sure how that goes. Yeah, yeah. So especially like at Paradise Valley, we have a great opportunity to replant with more diversity. So part of the reason we have the laminated root rot issue is because it was replanted just with Douglas fir. So that's a monoculture. It's only one type of tree. And so that really like, you know, allows the root rot to spread more aggressively. So by putting a variety of different trees back in there, it's going to be more diversity, it's going to make it more resilient. You know, that's better for wildlife, that's better for carbon sequestration, that's better for wildfire prevention. So unfortunately, and I had this question from one of our mountain bikers, she was like, Well, is it going to be basically like a clear cut? And it kind of is because we have to take all of them out. But Then we have this ability to come back and replant with more diversity, which is just, I think, going to be really interesting for people to see grow up and see what that could look like. Because, you know, to your point, people love the outdoors around here and are out in nature all the time. So to see these different kind of environments is going to be interesting for folks. I know I kind of thought about that too, because we know that when there is diversity, it also changes the ecosystem there too, as well. And what you might see and what people get to experience on these hikes. And, you know, you mentioned someone who is a biker, not like a room biker, but a pedal biker, mountain biker. People frequent those areas. They're probably kind of thinking, well, where can I go? Or what can I do? Is there any suggestion of a place where they can go instead until they can expect things to kind of open back up? Yeah, great question. So Paradise Valley is still available. It is a large park and we built a bypass route so we can basically avoid the area that's closed down for now. And then we've had some folks reach out to us and talk about how we can do some more trail work to, you know, create more connection and to help, you know, keep, you know, mountain bikers in areas that they really like. So Paradise Valley is still going to be available and folks should definitely still go and check that out. Um, with Southwest County, uh, there are other parks in the area, but, you know, to your point, it's a great time to check out, you know, what other parks might be in the area that you haven't visited before. Uh, we steward over 11,000 acres and over a hundred individual park properties in the county. And then all of our city, you know, jurisdictions and partners, they have amazing parks as well. So yeah, for sure. You know, it's a great opportunity to maybe go find a new favorite park and, you know, explore a little bit more. And just see what's around there and stay out Out of the area, it is not. Thank you to be there. I'm sorry, I try to always tell people, stay out of the area. Thank you, I appreciate that. Because we just want people to enjoy their time out there. And I don't want to report about anything bad happening out there after we try to warn people. Anything else that the public should know about going to these areas? Now, you mentioned that there is still a vast amount of area available for people to enjoy. Yeah, just in general, I mean, you know, we're coming into the winter season, but, you know, Northwesters are a hearty bunch. And so, you know, there's lots of great opportunities to get out and enjoy your parks and enjoy the fall colors. It's been beautiful this year and, you know, get outside and, you know, have a walk and connect with some folks. So I hope people will still keep doing that and enjoying their parks. This is my first Washingtonian fall winter year, and it is absolutely it is absolutely gorgeous. You've got to have that coat on. It's absolutely gorgeous, though, and I want to encourage people to go out and explore those other parts, too. When you see the sign, read the sign, obey the sign. Don't go in that area because we don't want to report about it. And Sharon doesn't want to talk about it at her job either. We want you to enjoy all the other parts that are available to you. Thank you for coming on and kind of explaining this to folks, too, because they might just see that they can't go and just assume, well, why can't I go? And then just kind of move their way in. And we just want to keep people safe and informed and having a great time out in these beautiful areas. Sharon Walker, thank you so much. Thank Parkley, appreciate you. And come back to the show whenever you want to. Whenever those trees are back up, come on back on. Awesome. Thank you for having us. Of course. Anytime. Appreciate you. you so much.