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Land owner and Land Trust volunteer Toni Wade shares her point of view
Share the memories of Toni Wade, who grew up on Chickamin Stick Tree Farm, just west of Port Angeles. She and her husband, Norm, have protected the 40 acres as sustainable timberland and an education center through an agreement with North Olympic Land Trust and a division of Merrill and Ring. Toni, an active volunteer for the Land Trust and tree farm education center, is on the StreamFest at Ennis Arbor Farm schedule again to host Pond Critters Open House. She also is leading educational tree planting at Ennis Creek, Chickamin Stick Tree Farm and other properties the Land Trust protects.
OUR ROOTS GIVE you strength and pull you back. I grew up across the road from the 40-acre Chickamin Stick Tree Farm in Dry Creek, which my family owned, west of Port Angeles.
That gave me roots and pulls me back to preserve, protect and educate. We were proud of our trees. My mom spent hours hunting down honeysuckle, determined not to let it harm the trees. My dad and brother cut firewood and decided which trees to thin out.
I went to college and thrived on science studies. My dad and I argued about the use of pesticides but agreed trees were our future.
I was married amid the trees, and my husband taught himself to log and continued to thin the stand. When he needed to retire, we hoped to protect the sustainable timberland and teach others about it.
Hours of planning with North Olympic Land Trust and Merrill & Ring led to a voluntary a conservation easement. It was the first agreement that the land trust holds in Clallam County that includes plans for an education program. M & R management realized that I came with the property and would be involved in the education program.
It was time to harvest the timber, and it was awful to see the trees fall. But the logging was carefully done, and comments about the quality of the logs and the length of poles were a source of pride to me and my husband, Norm.
The best part was ahead.
Students from Dry Creek and Crescent schools and a group of eager Brownies planted trees. They talked about the future, named their trees, promised to come back to see the trees grow, and made plans to bring their grandchildren to see their forest in 50 years.
I watched them putting down their own roots just as I had. I hope they will care about protecting land so it can continue to be the future for all of us. Here are some of the words first and second graders wrote:
Dawn: “We planted trees. We went on a walk. It was fun.”
“We saw an old bridge. We saw a tree that fell.”
“The trees will be big. When I grow up, they will be big trees.”
Turner: “They will probably be 20 feet. They will be tall, really tall trees.”
Connor: “Today was fun. I learn to plant some trees. I have a tree from M and R.”
Elizabeth: “Animals will make their homes in them. The trees will be bigger year after year.”
Fischer: “People cut down trees for poles, lumber, paper. The biggest tree that was cut was 100 feet.”
Tena: “In the future they will cut down big trees and make rocking chairs, paper, poles and rocking horses.”
Alyssa: “We had to use the back of the shovel and it was weird. The names of the trees are cedar, Douglas fir and hemlock.”
Holly: “The hemlock tips its head over like it isn’t winning. I love hemlocks because they are special.”
Jakob: “In the future the trees will be giant and fat. In 40 years they will be good to make stuff like telephone poles.”
This first appeared as a “Point of View” column in the July 20 Peninsula Daily News. Toni Wade is a retired elementary school teacher who lives in Port Angeles. See “Have Your Say” in the information box in the Peninsula Daily News on how to send us a “Point of View” on a community lifestyle issue.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 at 5:21 pm and is filed under Latest News.