Tree Board

The Tree Board is responsible for developing a written plan for the care, preservation, pruning, planting, replanting, removal or disposition of trees and shrubs in parks, city streets and other public areas. The Tree Board is also responsible for implementing the City Tree Ordinance (White Salmon Municipal Code 18.35).

The Tree Board hired Peninsula Urban Forestry to prepare management plans for the city's parks and street trees along Jewett Blvd. A separate management plan was prepared for Gaddis Park due to the nature of the park (true forest environment). The documents are available below.

2024 Areas of Focus

Green Legacy Hiroshima Partnership
Interpretative tree walk(s) around city
Arbor Day Festival
Quarterly Tree Species for the City Newsletter
Heritage Tree Municipal Code

Tree Board Members

David Lindley, Council Member
Patty Fink, Council Member
Karen Black Jenkins, Resident
Becky Williams, Resident
Virginia Hartnett, Resident

Tree Board Meetings

The Tree Board meets every 2nd Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the City Hall, 100 N. Main, White Salmon WA 98672 as well as via Zoom Teleconference.

Additional information regarding the Tree Board can be obtained by calling Troy Rayburn, City Administrator, at 509-493-1133 #202, or email at administrator@whitesalmonwa.gov. 

For interest in serving on the Tree Board, please apply HERE. 

Arbor Day Celebration 2024

The City of White Salmon will celebrate Arbor Day in March 2024 in conjunction with Underwood Conservation District's Tree Fest. 

Trees are assets to a community when properly planted and maintained. They help to improve the visual appeal of a neighborhood, increase property values, reduce home cooling costs, remove air pollutants and provide wildlife habitat, among many other benefits.

The City encourages everyone to plant, or care for, a tree on their property in celebration of Arbor Day 2024 and to get outside and appreciate the wonderful trees in our community. We celebrate 7 years as a Tree City USA, and 2024 marks the 152th anniversary of Arbor Day.

The Ponderosa Pine

Ponderosa pines are BIG trees: the Washington State Champion Ponderosa Pine, growing near Trout Lake, Washington, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, is 7′ in diameter and 202′ tall! Heights of 80′-100′ and diameters less than 3′ are more common, however.

Ponderosa pine is an emblematic tree of the American West, as well it should be since it is found in every state west of the Mississippi except Alaska and Hawaii. Ponderosa pine ranges within those states, however, are scattered by changes in elevation, soil type, and soil moisture. These scattered populations have developed into slightly different varieties. Pacific ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa, var. ponderosa) is the variety typically found in Washington State.

The needles are 5-10″ long, dark olive-to-yellowish green, and are usually bundled in fascicles of three, occasionally in fascicles of two. Buds are cylindrical, red-brown in color, and less than 1″ long. Cones are oval, 3-6″ long, and often bunched together in groups of 3-5.

Mature ponderosa pine bark. Photo from Bugwood.org

A most distinctive feature of the tree is the bark: heavily furrowed and rich black-brown on vigorous young trees, mature ponderosa pines exhibit a thick, fire-resistant bark that separates into broad, orange-colored plates–an iconic and defining characteristic of the tree. On warm days, light scents of cinnamon or vanilla may emanate from the bark, a delightful identifier.

Although ponderosa pine prefers full sun, performing best when planted in deep, well-drained loam soils, it can and does thrive in sub-optimal conditions throughout its range where soils may be rocky or sandy and where moisture is more limited. Note that, typical of pines, it will not thrive in wet, heavy, clayey soils. Pests and diseases, such as bark beetles, pitch moths, rusts, needlecast, and root rots, can thwart the health and longevity of any ponderosa pine, particularly those under stress.

The three most important things to remember about planting this tree and most other native conifers are:

Make sure you have enough space
Make sure you have enough space
Make sure you have enough space!

Golden Currant

The genus Ribes contains nearly 150 species of low, woody shrubs found across the Northern Hemisphere and the Andes of South America. Ribes species with spiny stems are commonly called gooseberries and often placed in their own genus, Grossularia, which is also the root of the family name, Grossulariaceae. True Ribes lack spines or bristles on the stems and are often called currants. According to Colorado botanist William Weber, the term currant comes from “Zante Currant” or the “raisins of Corinth” for the resemblance of the fruit to grapes grown on the Greek island of Corinth.

Golden currant (Ribes aureum) is a non-spiny shrub with stems 4-5 feet tall and mostly three-lobed, maple-like leaves. The sweetly scented flowers are tubular and golden-yellow when fresh, but turn orangish to violet with age. The appearance of the blossoms in late March or early April is often one of the first signs of spring in many parts of the country. Found in roadside ditches, fencerows, thickets, montane meadows, and streamsides, Golden currant ranges from southern Canada to California, Arizona, South Dakota, and western Texas. Introduced as a garden plant in the 19th Century, it has also become naturalized in western and central Europe.

Also known as Buffalo currant, Ribes aureum and its close relative, Ribes odoratum of the Great Plains were an important food source for the Plains Indians. The bluish-black fruits were eaten fresh or dried and mixed with dried buffalo meat or venison to make pemmican. The berries can also be converted into jams and jellies. Numerous animal species consume the fruits and nectar-loving birds such as orioles have been observed eating the flowers.

The colorful flowers of Ribes aureum have an unusual composition. The elongated tube is formed from fusion of the petals and sepals into a structure called a hypanthium. The five large, golden-yellow, petal-like lobes spreading at a right angle from the rim of the hypanthium are technically sepals, while the smaller, erect yellowish to red petals point straight up and alternate with the five stamens. Other plant families characterized by the presence of a hypanthium include the Rosaceae and Saxifragaceae, both of which are considered closely related to the Grossulariaceae.

Many Ribes species can serve as alternate hosts for fungus that causes white pine blister rust in five-needled or white pines. In many areas, it is unlawful to plant certain types of Ribes where white pines are harvested for timber. For more than 40 years, the federal government actively controlled Ribes populations in western forests and national parks in an effort to contain the spread of white pine blister rust fungi, but the program was eventually halted in the 1970s after showing minimal success.