PORT ANGELES – Port Angeles residents can apply for up to four free trees to plant in public rights-of-way near their residences.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago,” city council member Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin said during a city council presentation on the City Shade Street Tree Program.
Individuals can apply to receive these trees through the Port Angeles city website. Applications opened Monday and will close Sept. 6.
There are three tree species available: Scarlet oaks/American red oaks, Katsura trees and Gary oaks/Oregon white oaks.
Scarlet oaks/American red oaks grow between 60-70 feet tall and 45 feet wide and have a scarlet red color in the fall.
Katsuras usually reach 40-60 feet tall and 40 feet wide and smell like cinnamon or burnt sugar in the fall.
Garry oaks/Oregon white oaks grow around 60 feet tall and 45 feet wide and are native to the Pacific Coast.
City staff will work with applicants to choose the appropriate tree and location for planting.
These trees must be planted within the public right-of-way, usually located between the sidewalk and the curb.
Both homeowners and renters can participate in this program. Renters must include in their application a form signed by the property owner that approves the tree planting.
Individuals can also plant an approved tree species in the public right-of-way that they have purchased, if they apply for a Street Tree Planting Permit.
Applicants are responsible for planting the trees, although they may request volunteer assistance on the application form. Applicants are also responsible for watering, pruning and leaf raking.
Planting and care guides and spacing and clearance guides are available on the city website.
Individuals can also use the application form to volunteer to help grow the trees, assist with distribution and planting or coordinate neighborhood street tree maintenance. Last year, around 15 people helped distribute. Program developer Paul Forrest said the program “could use lots more.”
Trees will be distributed and planted on Oct. 19. They will be available tentatively between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. at the city parking lot near the Vern Burton Community Center.
Forrest said even if individuals have submitted an application, trees will be first come, first serve.
He predicts the program will be oversubscribed. He said, “if you want your trees, show up early.”
This is the second year of the City Shade Street Tree Program.
Last year, the program handed out around 140 English oak, golden rain and Japanese pagoda trees, according to prior reporting.
This program was developed by Forrest in partnership with the city.
Forrest, a retired agronomist, said he visited Port Angeles in 2006 or 2007 and saw lots of pictures of Port Angeles during the 1950s on display.
He told his wife “I think there were more trees then than now.”
When he retired to Port Angeles with his wife in 2013, he wanted two things: to see more trees in the city, and to have “a deeper sense of civic engagement.”
He then brought the developed the street tree program to the city council in 2018.
Since then, Forrest said he has been “pulling them, cajoling them, helping them to have a street tree program.”
One of the goals of this program is to increase the city’s tree canopy to 40 percent. A city-hired consultant found that, in 2011, the canopy was only at 20 percent, excluding ravines, according to prior reporting.
The city can also show this program as “an open manifestation of its commitment to fighting climate change,” Forrest said.
Forrest has donated his time and his money to grow the trees. Shore Road Nursery allows Forrest to use its space and water for the trees.
While cultivating the trees, Forrest suffered some setbacks. Originally, his plan was to supply the city with four years of trees. Earlier this year, however, extremely low temparatures killed the 2025 and 2026 inventory.
For the program to continue, Forrest said it has to be completely owned by the city, although he would be “delighted to assist them.”
Forrest thinks the program should go on.
“People like the program,” he said. “I think the city can absorb 150 to 200 trees per year for many years.”
Forrest said the city has a few options. First, it could purchase 200 trees per year for a cost of around $20,000.
Second, it could grow its own trees. This would cost around $200,000 for a 200-tree nursery with yearly operating costs of $10,000, plus 1,000 or more hours of labor per year, Forrest said.
Schromen-Wawrin said during the city council presentation that this program is “high value, high impact and relatively limited cost.”
If people want to see what the future of the city could look like, Forrest said they should go to the corner of West Seventh Street and Oak Street and look at the trees there.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
