Ok, but for real, one of the things that drives me a bit crazy is Western Washington, Oak prairies, and Douglas Firs.
So, "everyone" pictures western Washington as naturally being covered in evergreen forests made up primarily of Douglas Firs. (If they know what a Douglas fir is) They think everything over here was just old growth evergreens. Therefore, many, many people's first thought when getting into ecological restoration is "Plant more trees!!!" And they go out and they get a bunch of Douglas firs and they plant them. Because they're cheap, they're native, and they grow well.
(Do you know what our most common tree is? Do you know what tree has actually expanded it's range since colonialization? Do you know what tree pops up everywhere? Do you know what tree will just show up on it's own and is doing JUST FINE and DOESN'T NEED ANY HELP????? And has actually caused a decrease in biodiversity as it takes over and crowds out other species????)
America's picture of ecological wellness, at least when it comes to Washington state, is a thick, vibrant evergreen forest full of Douglas firs.
But! That's actually not the only ecosystem that was here before colonialization, and before the diseases that Europeans brought over killed a huge percent of the native human population. A huge swath of what people now call the I-5 corridor was prairie and oak savanna! We only have 3% of the historical extent of the oak savanna!
That means there's less of it left than of the old growth!
But the thing is that those prairies and oak savanna had been actively maintained by native peoples (and these ecosystems have greater biodiversity than the Douglas fir forests!!!) Until! The U.S. government banned intentional fire and actively suppressed naturally occurring fires! Which turned out to be A BAD IDEA.
And the thing is, oaks support so many MORE species of insects and birds than Douglas firs, it's incredible. Oaks are a keystone species, and so many of the species that are struggling in this state are struggling in part because the DOUGLAS FIRS INVADED THE PRAIRIES AND OAK SAVANNAS and turned them into closed canopy evergreen forests with fewer species and less food for people and other animals.
Because the thing is that the oaks and the camas and the lomatiums and a bunch of other extremely cool plants that are super important to native bees, native butterflies, native birds, and native peoples, are adapted to fire.
Douglas firs (and scotch broom and Himalayan blackberry and a bunch of other invasive species that really want to take over the prairies) are not. So for many hundreds and thousands of years- since the last ICE AGE!- native peoples in this area have been intentionally maintaining open prairies and oak savannas by using fire to keep the Douglas firs from taking over and turning everything into a Douglas fir dominated closed canopy forest.
But when the people here were hit first by European diseases and then the U.S. banned intentional fires, Douglas firs started moving in from the surrounding forests. Their seeds are everywhere. They are pioneer species. They're widely adapted. They're fast growing. They transform every ecosystem into one ecosystem that they dominate. They're planted by the million each year! Because they're a great timber tree! But they're also literally everywhere else!
We have so many! SO many Douglas firs! More than any other tree species!
So tell me why people go out and plant EVEN MORE! Instead of, I don't know, something that actually supports way more species and is a much rarer tree and part of an ecosystem that has almost been wiped out, like, say, the Garry Oak?
Stop planting Douglas firs willy nilly everwhere! We have enough!
