OLYMPIA, Wash. — A Washington State Department of Natural Resources program is offering western Cascade residents free forestry assistance — but officials say too few eligible landowners on that side of the mountains know it exists.
The state’s Service Forestry Program has proven so popular east of the Cascades that a waiting list has formed, while the program struggles to find participants on the western side.
One Thurston County family, however, is proof of what the help can accomplish.
Sue Sweet and her daughter Haley purchased a 20-acre property near Black Lake, south of Olympia in 2022, with dreams of building a home and enjoying a thriving forest.
What they found instead was an overgrown landscape riddled with invasive plants like knotweed and blackberries, left behind by previous owners who had harvested and planted trees but failed to maintain the land.
“We didn’t realize we’re really in over our head with this project,” Sue Sweet said, “We just thought, well, you just keep cutting it back, but then we came out and it was so huge this spring.”
The Sweets contacted the Department of Natural Resources looking for help.
Service Forester Matt Smetana, who oversees the assistance program for the South Sound region, said the state has paid for approximately $8,000 in labor, materials, and expertise to make the property more manageable and less susceptible to wildfires.
“Those blackberries were completely overtopping these trees,” Smetana noted, describing conditions before the intervention.
“To restore this area to forest land benefits not just the neighbors and not just the Sweets, but it benefits the entire surrounding community,” said Smetana.
The results have been transformative for the Sweet family.
“As a little girl, I wanted to be a forest ranger,” said Sue Sweet, “My brothers told me girls can’t be forest rangers, so here I am — we’re building a forest here.”
The state plans to return to the property this winter to plant additional trees.
The Sweets hope the state will help them maintain the forest.
However, continued funding from the state legislature will be required to keep the program running beyond next June.
To ensure diverse coverage and expert insight across a wide range of topics, our publication features contributions from multiple staff writers with varied areas of expertise.
