PORT TOWNSEND — The city of Port Townsend will celebrate its annual Autumnal Arbor Day celebration on Saturday by hosting a native plant adoption and a tour of 50 significant Uptown trees.
The plant adoption will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Mountain View Commons, 1925 Blaine St. The walking tour will run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., starting at the Port Townsend Public Library, 1220 Lawrence St.
Port Townsend has held the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA designation for 23 years, according to a press release.
One of the four requirements for that designation is to have an Arbor Day proclamation and some sort of celebration to go with it, said Debbie Jahnke, chair of the city’s Parks, Recreation, Trees and Trails Advisory Board.
“Many communities will celebrate one tree, and we prefer to add more trees to our community,” Jahnke said. “We don’t celebrate one tree, we’re going to celebrate 50-plus. We’re going to give away a hundred.”
The designation increases the city’s access to grant opportunities and a more interactive relationship with the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Jahnke said.
The event kicks off Washington state’s Urban and Community Forestry Month.
While Arbor Day, founded in Nebraska, is celebrated in the spring elsewhere, it is celebrated in October in Washington, Jahnke said.
“If you’re going to plant native species or plant your landscape, perennials or trees or anything like that, you’re much better off to plant in the fall,” she explained. “It’s now raining finally, and it rains through the winter while they develop their roots so that they are ready for spring and maybe better settled in to handle the dry summer.”
With one adoption per household, as supplies last, attendees can choose from a variety of native trees and shrubs, including shore pine, Garry oak, evergreen huckleberry, sword fern, red-twig dogwood, Pacific ninebark, serviceberry, Pacific yew, beaked hazel and wax myrtle.
Volunteers and staff will be present to advise on planting and caring for the local species.
The plants, purchased from local conservation districts, were raised by anonymous members of the Rainshadow Bird Alliance, Jahnke said.
Jahnke, who also serves on the board of Rainshadow Bird Alliance and writes their newsletters, stressed the importance of native plants to birds and insects.
“National Audubon and Local Audubons are promoting the idea of native plants for birds to increase habitat, even small-scale habitat for birds, for migratory and resident species,” she said.
Species of birds and insects adapt alongside plants, Jahnke said. A yard full of exotic plants doesn’t do them any good, she added.
The walking tour will be led by Fred Weinmann and Sara Fairbank, members of the Olympic Peninsula chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society. They will share a map and guide two walking loops.
While picking a single favorite tree isn’t easy, Jahnke said, she did name one of her favorites.
“It is an oak, a Quercus agrifolia,” she said. “It’s a beautiful multi-trunk tree at the corner of Pierce and Lawrence. That was our very first landmark tree.”
Landmark status allows the city to place protections on trees using a process that goes to the city council for publicly owned trees, or through city staff for privately owned trees, Jahnke said.
Beyond the importance of having native plants for birds and insects, Jahnke noted the general importance of tree canopy.
“I focus on trees for canopy and in part because of the effects of climate change,” she said. “Areas that have trees, cities that have trees, are significantly cooler in temperature. And as temperature goes up, we’re going to need more canopy, not less.”
Canopy coverage can improve climate resilience at a personal and local scale, she added.
Jahnke also noted that the city is adding a chapter on Urban Forestry as it updates its comprehensive plan this year.
Autumnal Arbor Day is hosted by the city’s Community Services Department in partnership with the Rainshadow Bird Alliance, Washington Native Plant Society, DNR, Urban & Community Forestry Program and Quimper Parks & Trees Foundation.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com.
