High School this afternoon. The site is on a ridge-top with the land
falling both to the east and to the west. I was told that the site
was cleared between 1900 and 1920, and that understory was cleared
about 3 years ago as a response to reports of drug use there. The
site is bordered by chain link fence except on the east side.
Streets border it on the East and South, Shorecrest high school
parking lot is to the north, and a former county penal facility,
which is undergoing demolition, is on the west. Concrete foundations
of a former officer's BOQ are near the center of the plot, and one
or more manhole covers indicate the presence of a former sewage
treatment plant or septic system.
The forest is composed of largely of Douglas firs, with a few
western red cedars, a very few white pines and at least one spruce.
Big leaf maple, madrone, and western dogwood occurred mostly on the
periphery. Also seen at one place or another were black cottonwood
a possible aspen, and several birches leaning over a main trail. I
was surprised not to find western hemlock. Salal and low Oregon
grape were common in patches, as was red huckleberry. A few hazelnut
bushes were found, and two Indian plum seedlings were seen. Native
herbaceous plants included starflower, vanilla leaf, bracken fern and
sword fern. Invasive shrubs/trees included holly - present in
disturbing abundance throughout, a few Portuguese laurel, Scotch
broom on the eastern border, and one rowan. Herb Robert was
prominent nearly everywhere, and quite a lot of what I take to be
nipplewort in patches. One patch of forget-me-not was an amusing
contrast. The aspect is of a planted forest with very sparse low
understory shrubs, a sparse but recoverable native ground cover
layer, and lots of invasives to deal with. to be successfully
restored, this site would need a dedicated volunteer work crew for
several years, or (preferably "and") a professional crew such as
Earth Corps.
A beautiful design in pebbles, fir cones, bracken fern leaves and
holly leaves was found on the ground indicating that the site has
deep meaning to someone. In the past, bike riders had created jumps
in the forest, but bulldozers were sent in to erase their work and
grass (aargh) was planted in the clearing. However, when we walked
through, we saw a newly created jump. .
