SEQUIM — In this swath of brown grass and seedlings in cages, Bill Wood imagines natural luxury.
And though this 20-acre parcel is drabber than the nearby lawns, gardens and ponds of Carrie Blake Park, Wood knows its full potential as a place hearkening back to the Dungeness Valley of 150 years ago and a time before the native forest was cut down to make way for farming and housing.
Here, alongside the subdivisions of northeastern Sequim, Wood has planted a new generation: 2,000 Garry oaks, trees forest ecologists consider invaluable.
The field off North Rhodefer Road is an odd sight, punctuated by cylindrical wire cages — which Wood prefers to call “browse protectors,” as they keep deer from dining on the tender trees.
A retired state Fish and Wildlife biologist, he envisioned this plantation back in 2001, when the state purchased the parcel from Sequim’s Blake family for a native-plant restoration project.
Six autumns ago, he started establishing seedlings purchased with state funding; a basic irrigation system went in too, and the planting of the Garry oaks — shade trees that populated the Sequim prairie until European settlers arrived in the mid-19th century — continued into 2005.
State money for the project has since dried up, Wood said.
He has continued to volunteer, working alongside other unpaid oak caregivers such as Melissa Soares and Les Jones of Sequim.
‘Like Sherwood Forest’
The seedlings are only a couple of feet high, but Soares, Jones and Wood have in mind a woodland with a wide green ceiling, a place pulsing with birdsong.
“It will be like Sherwood Forest,” said Jones — though not for some decades.
“I work for a vision. It’s something I will never see in my lifetime,” Soares added.
“This is something I hope will be enjoyed by future generations.”
The city of Sequim provides reclaimed water, from its water-reuse facility next to the plantation site, and the consistent supply is reflected in the growth of the trees this year, she said.
On a recent visit to the site, Sequim Mayor Laura Dubois expressed delight with the young plants and with their water source.
Sequim’s reclaimed water “is full of nutrients,” she said, and could in the future be used to nourish other landscaping projects across the city.
Soares and the others weed the plantation and maintain the browse protectors and irrigation system, and share the land with swooping barn swallows, the occasional soaring hawk and many melodic savannah sparrows.
But when the Garry oaks are grown up, the wildlife will be far more abundant, Wood said.
These trees are castles for wildlife, supporting a whole ecosystem of animals, mushrooms and other understory plants.
“It’s inspiring to know that what you’re doing is for the long-term benefit of the community,” both human and wild, Jones said.
But to keep the oaks protected, weeded and watered without state funding, local support is critical, Wood added.
He and the other volunteers are gathering donations to help pay the electricity bill for the irrigation pump, buy fuel for the mowing tractor, build browse protectors and print brochures explaining the Garry oak project.
When discussing the need for mowing, Wood reverted momentarily to state-biologist-speak.
“We need to chunk the habitat,” he said, meaning the mower removes the cover for pests, such as voles, exposing them to natural predators such as hawks.
Next week, Wood will start tapering off the watering of the plantation so the small trees can harden for winter.
In spring, he hopes to introduce a new crop of volunteers to the place and give tours to community members. Though the land is state-owned, it’s not open to the public.
The years-long project means a considerable amount of unpaid labor for this retiree, but Wood doesn’t mind.
“It represents my gift to Gaia,” he said, using a Greek mythological term for Earth.
Restoring a small piece of Sequim’s natural history, to Wood, is an offering “in return for all I’ve received during my sojourn here.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@ peninsuladaily news.com.
