Hazardous Tree Removal

As much as we would like for all the trees in the Alderbrook Woods to grow into giants and live forever, that is not the case. Some will be damaged by fungi, disease, insects, animals, weather, and competition for resources with other trees. Rather than letting these hazardous trees fall whenever they would like, we try to minimize the potential risk of injury and property damage from these trees by safely dropping them to the forest floor.

There is a lot that goes into deciding which trees need to be removed. We consider things like the likelihood of it falling on the trail, the safety of the felling crew, and the aesthetic and ecological value.

So next time you’re trekking through the Alderbrook Woods, you might notice the remains of the hazard trees we felled. Thanks to our amazing temperate rainforest, it doesn’t take long for new life to lay claim to the nurse stumps and logs.

Enjoy this video of me removing a dead alder near the Skunk Cabbage Boardwalks of the Licorice Fern Trail. Be sure to have the volume on high so you can hear the groans of the tree as it falls.

Timber!

-MS