Natural History

Forest Park is located within what is known as the Western Hemlock zone. In a natural, undisturbed state, this zone would primarily be populated by three coniferous tree species: Douglas-fir, western hemlock and western redcedar.

Forest Park has maintained all of the western hemlock zone's naturally evolved, characteristic plants. However, instead of being dominated by evergreen trees, in large sections the landscape are favored by red alder and bigleaf maple trees. Primarily due to a history of logging and a series of historically recent wildfires, evergreen trees have declined appreciably while hardwood species have proliferated. For more information on the Forest Park landscape, click here.