This fall, Friends of Fort Worden will make their biggest habitat restoration planting ever, putting over 2,000 native trees and shrubs in the ground. 

Clear-cutting around 1897, when the fort was built by the U.S. army, and decades of mixed use left Ft. Worden vulnerable to invasive plants that displace native plants, degrading and killing the native forest.

Friends of Fort Worden has been battling scotch broom, ivy, poison hemlock and other invasive plants for several years, but as every gardener knows, weeds never sleep, so the fight goes on.

Removal of the invasives is just the first step. To keep the invaders at bay, the ground must be replanted with local native flora

“We selected six different type of trees and 14 species of shrubs for planting,” said Mitch Freeman, Friends Board member and Habitat Restoration Project Leader. “All are species currently growing inside the park”.

So far,” Freeman said, “feedback from folks who have heard of the planting program has been quite positive. We have put up signs throughout the park showing what specific plants will be added to each area.”

“The Friends have done a terrific job with habitat restoration at the park, and we are very excited about the large number of new plants that will be added”, said State Parks Area Manager Brian Hageman.

To tackle this huge job, the Friends hired Sound Native Plants, a company with a proven record of habitat restoration in many Washington state parks. 

The all-volunteer Friends of Fort Worden provides both financial and boots-on-ground support for park improvements and programs, which are not funded by the state parks system. A complete list of new plant types and planting locations can be found on the Friends of Fort Worden website: fwfriends.org. The

Jon Hall is a volunteer on the Friends of Fort Worden trail team and a resident of Port Townsend.