David and Dar New from Washington
What makes them outstanding?
David and Darlina (Dar) New are third-generation owners of the Nourse Tree Farm, which is located outside of Arlington, Washington. The land had been in Dar’s family for 76 years. After an uncle passed away, the family legacy was put up for sale. Fortunately, Dave and Dar purchased the farm and protected it from development.
Rather than continue a hands-off management approach, they contacted a consultant forester who developed a timber management plan and recommended a harvest an over-mature stand of red alder. After this introduction to active forest management, Dave and Dar joined the Washington Farm Forestry Association, wrote their own forest stewardship plan, and joined the Washington Tree Farm Program.
They drew upon the expertise of local agencies and professionals to restore a degraded fish habitat stream, which involved channel construction, installing large woody debris, and riparian planting.
Grateful for the assistance that local organizations provided during their education, Dave and Dar have hosted Washington State University Forestry Extension and Conservation District workshops and field tours. In fall 2018, Dave successfully organized a tree farm open house; over 200 people, including county and state officials, and local natural resources organizations were in attendance.
Today, the New family continues to find ways to work on the tree farm and promote the values of the American Tree Farm System. The ATFS decal is a template, and Dave and his family have demonstrated their dedication to protect and manage the water, wood, wildlife, and recreation elements on their tree farm.
Tree Farmer Story
Our Tree Farm Story by Dave New:
My wife Dar and I, our daughter Jennifer Parker, and her husband Jeff Parker are equal partners in a place we call "The River," 165 acres located on Pilchuck Creek in north Snohomish County, Washington. In 1942, Dar’s grandfather, Leroy Nourse, purchased this land to serve as a place for family recreation. Upon his death, Dar's uncle, Bob Nourse, inherited the property and for the next 48 years, he continued this tradition of inviting the extended family to visit and enjoy the outdoors. Dar has fond childhood memories of visiting The River on weekends to tend the garden and camp on the river.
As Uncle Bob grew older, Nina, Dar and I had conversations about the fate of The River. Unfortunately, Bob would not discuss successional planning. Upon his death in 2004, he bequeathed $300 cash and two parcels totaling 200 acres to 10 heirs. All of the heirs except Dar and Nina wanted cash, not the family property. Because of the estate’s fiduciary responsibility to the heirs, the property was listed for sale.
A local developer purchased The River but then the Great Recession intervened, resulting in the developer losing the property. To save The River from future development, Dar and Nina offered to buy out the other heirs, and we acquired the property in 2010. We placed the property under the tax classification of Forested Open Space to make the taxes affordable. However, this required a forest management plan, but we knew very little about forestry. Through word-of-mouth, we heard of Pete Blansett, a local consulting forester, and hired him to advise us. After walking the property, Pete told us we had an over-mature stand of red alder in need of harvesting before it went to waste. Leaving it unharvested, he said, would severely degrade the quality of the woodland and make reforestation difficult and expensive. We hired him to manage the timber harvest; 62 acres were harvested in 2013, prepared for planting in September 2014 and replanted in early 2015.
In April 2013, as a part of the forest practice permitting, we met Wayne Watne, a wildlife biologist with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. At a proposed logging road stream crossing, he pointed out some young Cohos in the stream. I mentioned that the Cohos are regularly stranded each year they return to spawn. During the 1950s, Grandpa Nourse ditched a tributary to Pilchuck Creek, creating about 15 acres of pasture. Over time the lower section of this diked stream silted in, and the stream spilled out across lower field, losing all definition in the grass. In December 2012 after a rainstorm, we discovered a run of stranded Coho salmon who inadvertently went up the wrong channel. They were easy pickings for the eagles and ravens waiting in the trees.
I told Wayne that I wanted to restore the stream. He suggested contacting the Snohomish Conservation District (SCD). I did, and they helped us apply for a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) easement. Using my engineering background, I designed a channel through the field, which the SCD permitted and constructed. Subsequently, we planted about 30 acres of stream buffer with the help of Washington Conservation Corps crews, community volunteers, and school groups. I was given a SCD conservation leadership award in 2016 for this effort.
Working with Pete made Dar and I aware of how much we needed to learn to properly manage our tree farm. We joined the Washington Farm Forestry Association (WFFA) Whatcom County chapter. Members regularly hold tours of their tree farms, and we were introduced to small-scale forestry. Through WFFA, I learned about WSU Extension Forestry and the many courses they offer. After taking their Coached Planning class, I rewrote our forest management plan and certified our tree farm through the Washington Tree Farm Program. From the Ties to the Land class, I learned about succession planning. This prompted Dar and me to create a limited liability company with Jenn and Jeff, and together, we are owners of the Nourse Tree Farm. Dar and I have peace of mind knowing Jenn and Jeff will not go through what we did when Uncle Bob died.
In August 2015 an early fall windstorm hit us hard, knocking over a number of large trees in riparian areas of the property. We added these areas to the CREP easement. The SCD crews planted western redcedar and western hemlock in the understory along the stream. We are truly grateful to have acquired the continuing assistance of the SCD as part of our forest management program because we couldn’t have accomplished this work as quickly as they did.
Apart from our forest management, we have continued the 60-year tradition of planting a garden and spending our weekends at The River. We added a small orchard of fruit trees and berries. We tend the dahlias and vegetables, throw sticks for the dogs, and walk to the river with our two grandsons to soak our feet in the water. In September we invite friends to press apple cider and host a pumpkin party in October where the grandchildren, and about 80 friends of all ages, come to walk in the woods, have a treasure hunt, and take pumpkins back to the city. In the fall we walk to the river to watch the salmon return.
Ten years ago, I knew very little about forestry or forest management. When given an opportunity to learn more, I have taken it. I learned where to turn when I need help or have questions. And to give back to the forestry community that helped us, we host Extension Forestry events at The River. Our overriding goal is to manage this our small patch of woods and stretch of stream in an environmentally sustainable way, pass it on to future generations, and provide the family a modest amount of income at various times along the way.
Describe any outreach on behalf of sustainable forestry that the Tree Farmer has done.
The New family has actively pursued opportunities to showcase their tree farm management and assist local agencies in educational opportunities. Dave and Dar joined the Washington Farm Forestry Association (WFFA) and have participated in their events including their annual tree sale, tree farm tours, group dinner gatherings.
Dave has written profiles of the Nourse Tree farm and its history that have appeared in the WFFA Landowner News, and the Washington DNR Small Forest Landowner News.
The Nourse Tree Farm has hosted Washington State University Extension forestry events such as evening tours, a day-long weed eradication workshop, and Snohomish Conservation District riparian planting events for school groups and community volunteers.
The family organized an open house for showcasing small landowner forestry three weeks prior to the Washington State primary elections in the summer of 2018. The WFFA and Washington Tree Farm Program (WTFP) took the lead to provide publicity. Dave was interviewed by the Everett Herald, and the article was published on the front page. Other local publications picked up the story, and many of these articles can still be found on-line by googling Nourse Tree Farm. Dave wrote emails inviting all candidates to public office in nearby state and local districts to attend. The WFFA state organization, Whatcom and Upper Puget Sound Chapters, WTFP, WSU Extension Forestry, Snohomish Conservation District, and Plant Materials Center all had tables, representatives and tour leaders present.
Dave has also taken on the role of advocate. When funding for the extension services was threatened, Dave lobbied the Snohomish County Council and the Snohomish Conservation District to maintain funding. The family opened the harvest site to a firewood ministry group to glean firewood to provide heating for families in need. The family also provides them with space to process firewood collected from other sites.
For the following areas describe how the landowner's management addresses it - include any recent activity.
Wood:
Before the New family took over stewardship of the property, the forestland was not actively managed. Stand improvement and establishing a sustainable harvest schedule were priorities. In 2013, approximately 62 acres of mostly over-mature red alder was harvested. All the deciduous trees were removed, and the coniferous trees, mostly western redcedar and hemlock, were left. The following year, an herbicide cocktail was applied to prepare the site for planting in the spring of 2015. Since there was a mixture of soil types, and to maximize species diversity for future revenue, tree species were matched to soil type. A third of the area was planted with red alder, another third with Douglas-fir, and the remaining acreage, where most of the remaining coniferous trees were located, was planted with Douglas-fir and shade tolerant trees, such as western hemlock, white pine, noble fir, and grand fir. Approximately six acres of wetland were planted with western redcedar.
A 30-acre stand that was harvested in the early 1970s wasn’t properly replanted or thinned. The red alder and cottonwood comprising the stand aren’t yet commercially viable and due to the lack of early management won’t generate much financial return. The consulting forester recommended the stand be left as is and evaluated for harvest in 2023.
Management activities to maintain forest health and promote good tree form include invasive species monitoring and pruning the young trees. Invasive species, such as English holly, English ivy, Himalayan blackberries, and scotch broom, are removed when found.
Because black-tailed deer browse and rub their antlers against the young trees, this results in trees with multiple leaders. A wintertime activity has been pruning the secondary leaders once the main stems are tall enough to no longer be browsed.
Water:
The Nourse Tree Farm is situated on Pilchuck Creek, a tributary to the Stillaguamish River that flows to Puget Sound, and two unnamed streams flow across the tree farm. Every other year in October a run of pink salmon returns to Pilchuck Creek to spawn along the property frontage. It’s a family tradition to walk to the river to watch the salmon dig their redds and deposit their roe. In late November and early December, the Cohos return every year, some of which spawn in the restored stream. Every spring there are fingerling salmon in the restored channel, and these are easy to spot in shallow still pools.
As stewards of these stream stretches, the New family is committed to maintain and protect their salmonids. To correct a tributary that had been installed in the 1950s by the previous owner, Dave approached the Snohomish Conservation District (SCD) for assistance to re-establish the channel and plant the stream banks to shade out the canary reed grass and help keep the stream water cool. Using his engineering background, Dave designed a channel and stream bed, which was then permitted and constructed by the SCD.
The SCD assisted the family to create a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program easement through the U. S. Department of Agriculture. They worked together to plant and maintain all the stream buffers on the property.
Dave inspects the forest roads regularly to ensure the water bars are maintained, the culverts are not plugged, and there is no erosion in the roadways. This vigilance ensures no silt is carried by storm runoff into the streams and wetland areas.
Every spring there are fingerling salmon in the restored channel. These are easy to spot in shallow still pools. They then disappear downstream on their way to the ocean.
Wildlife including threatened and endangered species:
Conscious efforts have been taken to enhance the wildlife habitat on the Nourse Tree Farm. During the 2013 harvesting, many snags were left standing, and a significant volume of downed timber was left on the ground. Brush piles were created for birds and small mammals. In the unharvested hardwood stand, selective trees have been girdled to create wildlife snags, which will be left after harvesting. Bird houses, wood duck boxes, and bat boxes have also been installed across the property.
With the tree farm containing multiple age classes and stand structures, the landscape provides habitat for numerous bird species. Species that have been identified by sight or by calls include the red tailed hawk, turkey vulture, bald eagle, raven, crow, great blue heron, Steller’s jay, robin, mourning dove, swallows, black capped chickadee, nuthatch, goldfinch, spotted towhee, Oregon junco, cedar waxwing, Swainson’s thrush, varied thrush, northern flicker, downy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, kingfisher, wood duck, hummingbirds, pigmy owl, and great horned owl.
The family regularly deploys their three wildlife cameras to capture images of the abundance of wildlife that live on and pass through the Nourse Tree Farm including black-tailed deer, black bear, coyote rabbit, bobcat, raccoon, opossum, mice, cougar, great horned owl, red tailed hawk, raven, crow, and the like.
The cooperative effort with the Snohomish Conservation District has resulted in stream restoration and improved habitat for both freshwater and sea run salmonid species.
Providing habitat for native pollinators is also a priority. Care is taken to ensure that flowers are available to native bees throughout the growing season in the orchard and family garden. These flower species include sunflowers, dahlias, zinnias, daisies, clover, and native wildflowers. Small patches of the recently replanted stand have been scraped down to the mineral soil to provide nesting areas for native bees.
Recreation and Aesthetics including special sites:
Access to the Nourse Tree Farm is by a rural arterial road that cuts through the property and meandering down a ravine. A half-mile stretch of this road is the tree farm’s face to the world. Keeping it in a healthy, natural state is important to the family since it demonstrates to the public the New family’s dedication to being certified tree farmers
Inside the tree farm are over 2.5 miles of maintained roads and trails. These provide access for the family, friends and neighbors to explore the woods and streams on the tree farm. Dave and Dar visit the property every weekend to tend the family garden and orchard. During the summer, the property hosts weekend gatherings and campouts. Friends and families from the city visit to have a cook out, press apple cider, frolic in the river, and sleep either in a tent or under the stars. Every October the family hosts a pumpkin picking party, where 80 or more kids, parents, and grandparents come to spend the day, pick and carve pumpkins for Halloween, have a treasure hunt, explore the woods, and wade in the river.
Describe other forest programs which the Tree Farmers have used.
With the help of the Snohomish Conservation District, the New family entered into a CREP easement agreement. They leased approximately 30 acres of riparian buffer to the U. S. Department of Agriculture to restore a stream channel and plant the buffers with native trees and shrubs. Washington Conservation Corps, school groups, and community volunteers undertook the planting of 3000 trees. As a result of this collaboration, Dave received a Conservation Leadership award from the Snohomish Conservation District in 2016.
Dave currently serves on the Washington Tree Farm Program Committee and was nominated to serve on Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest Resource Advisory Committee.
