Thieves appear to have been raiding Indian Island County Park for the past several weeks, according to Jefferson County Parks & Recreation officials.

“By the looks of it, it’s just one person, or a small group of people, taking Douglas fir and madrone for firewood,” said Matt Tyler, parks and recreation manager. “Cutting down trees in Jefferson County parks for firewood is illegal and wrong, and we need help to get this to stop once and for all.”

The park is maintained primarily by volunteers, who have been noticing the theft, he said. In some cases, trees have been cut down and left behind.

Indian Island County Park is a 142-acre shoreline park that is situated west and south of State Route 116 from Portage Canal Bridge south to Marrowstone Island. The park offers trails, beaches, access to clamming, a picnic shelter and scenic views.

“The forest is in really good condition and should be protected from this kind of thoughtless and wasteful destruction,” Tyler said. “We’re asking the public, please help us get this stopped so we can keep our forest intact.”

Volunteer Gregory Graves recently discovered two trees that had been cut down on Isthmus Trail.

“These were actually on the edge of the bluff, rather than the side of the trail,” Graves said. “Just south of the north parking lot, I noticed a path had been tramped down from the trail over to the edge of the bluff. There were freshly cut stumps of a fir and a larger madrone right at the edge. It looks like the trees went over the edge and are still lying there.”

Graves has no idea why those trees were even cut, as extracting the trunks for firewood would be very difficult, and cutting them down was “plain dangerous.”

In total, this makes seven trees that Graves knows of that have been cut down so far. Six were on the Isthmus Trail, while one was on the Lagoon Trail. He estimated the trees were from 6 to 12 inches in diameter, “except the larger madrone on the edge of the bluff; that was probably 15 inches,” and probably stood 20-30 feet tall.

‘PRACTICALLY IRREPLACEABLE’

Tyler underscored the seriousness of the tree theft by noting that Douglas fir and madrone trees “are invaluable and practically irreplaceable.

“Even if we could afford to replant them right now, which we can’t, it would be another 30-50 years before the trees grew back,” Tyler said.

The forest on Indian Island is a mature forest, also referred to as “a climax forest,” with diverse plant species, offering a stable and beneficial habitat for shoreline species of birds and mammals, such as otters. “It’s an accessible and wonderful place for us humans to enjoy and protect,” Tyler said.

Tyler blamed the theft of the trees with directly impacting the stability of “this unusual, mature shoreline forest.”

“Even dead trees serve a very important purpose in the life and habitat of the forest,” Graves said. “They provide habitat and food sources for various creatures in the wild, notably woodpeckers. Dead and decaying trees are a natural part of the environment, and we leave them alone, except when they pose a risk to park users.”

Any information regarding this theft should be reported to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, or to Tyler at 385-9129 or mtyler@co.jefferson.wa.us.