Valley View Forest

Chimacum Ridge rises between Center and Beaver Valleys, in the heart of Chimacum, amid a landscape of protected salmon streams, forests and farms.

Valley View Forest, tucked alongside the road on the west side of the Ridge, is the first parcel acquired by Jefferson Land Trust that will be the “gateway” to the larger Chimacum Ridge.

In 2021 a of trial selective logging was carried out with the goal of increasing the diversity and increasing the number of stories (layers) in the forest. The logging is also a trial of whether wood harvested from the forest can be used locally rather than sold to large commercial wood processing companies.

[TL] Larry gives the safety briefing

[TL] Larry gives the safety briefing

[TL] Blaise Pascal and Carrie Clendaniel (both JLT staff) discuss tree selection.

[TL] Blaise Pascal and Carrie Clendaniel (both JLT staff) discuss tree selection.

[TL] Timber!!!

[TL] Timber!!!

[TL] Limbing and bucking to to length. Note the heartrot in the cedar.

[TL] Limbing and bucking to to length. Note the heartrot in the cedar.

[TL] Limbing up

[TL] Limbing up

[TL] Limbing

[TL] Limbing

[TL] Larry - 60 years experience in the forest

[TL] Larry - 60 years experience in the forest

[TL] Larry and chainsaw

[TL] Larry and chainsaw

[TL] Skidder

[TL] Skidder

[TL] Slash on the forest floor.. This will be gathered up to make brush piles as habitat for birds and small mammals.

[TL] Slash on the forest floor.. This will be gathered up to make brush piles as habitat for birds and small mammals.

[TL] Skidder heading out for the next load.

[TL] Skidder heading out for the next load.

[TL] Stump, slash and skid trail

[TL] Stump, slash and skid trail

[TL] Hauling a load of logs

[TL] Hauling a load of logs

[TL] Skid trails cut through the thin topsoil to the underlying glacial sands

[TL] Skid trails cut through the thin topsoil to the underlying glacial sands

[TL] Skidder dragging logs

[TL] Skidder dragging logs

[TL] Cedar Bark Pull - in the spring members of the Port Gamble S'kallam collected cedar bark from a small number of trees in the forest. This traditional method involves making small cut that frees the bark at the cambium layer. The bark is then pul

[TL] Cedar Bark Pull - in the spring members of the Port Gamble S'kallam collected cedar bark from a small number of trees in the forest. This traditional method involves making small cut that frees the bark at the cambium layer. The bark is then pulled away from the tree to create a long strip.

[TL] Oops - hauling logs arond sometimes damages small trees. This alder will sprout up from the base.

[TL] Oops - hauling logs arond sometimes damages small trees. This alder will sprout up from the base.

[TL] Preserved habitat tree at the edge of the cut.

[TL] Preserved habitat tree at the edge of the cut.

[TL] Thinned Woodland

[TL] Thinned Woodland

[TL] Valley view Forest has been a working forest in the past - largely for firewood. Here's a old pop (or maybe whiskey) bottle filled with moss.

[TL] Valley view Forest has been a working forest in the past - largely for firewood. Here's a old pop (or maybe whiskey) bottle filled with moss.

[TL] Logs from this pile will be milled up by a local sawyer to build a timberframed education barn on the north end of the property.

[TL] Logs from this pile will be milled up by a local sawyer to build a timberframed education barn on the north end of the property.

[TL] Back in the middle of the last century a fire ripped through part of the forest. This old cedar tree was turned into a chimney as it burnt out from the inside.

[TL] Back in the middle of the last century a fire ripped through part of the forest. This old cedar tree was turned into a chimney as it burnt out from the inside.

[TL] Uprooted small douglas fir with unweather glacial sand in the roots.

[TL] Uprooted small douglas fir with unweather glacial sand in the roots.

[TL] Small maple knocked over by some habitat trees.

[TL] Small maple knocked over by some habitat trees.

[TL] Old firewood that didn't make it into the last load.

[TL] Old firewood that didn't make it into the last load.

[TL] Untouched growth upslope from the cut.

[TL] Untouched growth upslope from the cut.

[TL] This machines long reach reduces the disturbance of the soil the forest.

[TL] This machines long reach reduces the disturbance of the soil the forest.

Photographers: Tim Lawson [TL], Brian Goodman [BG]