Monday, January 27th, 2025

Tacoma Silent Trees: Breaking Silence at Swan Creek Park

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In 2022, the Tacoma Tree Foundation partnered with researchers at Washington State University and Forest Health Watch to plant in the Swan Creek location of the Open Redcedar Adaptation Network.

Tacoma Silent Trees: Breaking Silence at Swan Creek Park

Hold on! Hold on! Hold! You can’t all speak at once!

One hundred, 2-year-old Western redcedar trees bombarded Peaks & Pints with questions as we approached the Open Redcedar Adaptation Network field at Swan Creek Park in Eastside Tacoma.

In 2022, the Tacoma Tree Foundation partnered with researchers at Washington State University and Forest Health Watch to plant in the Swan Creek location of the Open Redcedar Adaptation Network. This program aims to research and test Western redcedar seeds from different areas of the Pacific Northwest to see if seeds from trees in Oregon, for example, will grow better and adapt to a warmer Washington climate.

In 2022, WSU partnered with Tacoma Tree Foundation, Metro Parks Tacoma, the City of Renton, and Seattle Parks and Recreation to plant Western redcedar trees from two seed zones (Willamette Valley, Oregon, and Lewis County, Washington) at three sites including Swan Creek Park in Tacoma. Photo courtesy of Tacoma Tree Foundation

Breaking silence at Swan Creek Park

Once the young trees gained their composure after their two-year silence, we could make out their questions.

Several Western redcedar saplings wanted to know about their seedling time with Weyerhaeuser. Other Western redcedars had fond memories of their first year with Washington State University arborists. Most wanted an update from friends who were shipped off to Discovery Park in Seattle and Black River Riparian Forest in Renton. Then, the few were more concerned with their observations at Swan Creek Park.

“What’s up with all the mountain bikers?” asked a Western redcedar.

“Why do people crash their remote-controlled cars into each other?” chimed in another redcedar.

“Did those two old woman dog walkers ever find their car?” asked another.

“Have you seen the dude who wears a wizard hat and lives in the house next to the park trail?” laughed a red cedar closest to the mountain bike trail.

We could answer one. The park’s 50-acre “Douglas Fir Forest” zone includes approximately 4 miles of mountain bike trails, including XC, flow trails, jump lines, and skill-building options.

To recap, WSU partnered with Tacoma Tree Foundation, Metro Parks Tacoma, the City of Renton, and Seattle Parks and Recreation to plant Western redcedar trees from two seed zones — Willamette Valley, Oregon, and Lewis County, Washington — at Swan Creek Discovery Park and Black River Riparian Forest.

Tacoma Tree Foundation chose the Western redcedars at Swan Creek to be Peaks & Pints Tacoma Silent Trees series featured tree for this final week of January 2025.

Peaks & Pints first partnered with Tacoma Tree Foundation, or TTF, in the fall of 2019, pairing our then-house beer, Kulshan Brewing Tree-dimensional IPA, with TFF-selected trees around Tacoma. For 2024-25, we brewed our eighth house IPA at Loowit Brewing in downtown Vancouver. Since the brewery is named after Mount St. Helens and its eruption silenced many trees, we named the beer Silent Trees IPA and have partnered with the Tacoma Tree Foundation, once again, to tell the stories of their favorite trees.

Western redcedar | x̌əpayac | Thuja plicata

“The Western redcedar, an iconic tree of the Pacific Northwest, can be recognized by its papery red bark, by its pyramidal shape, and by its spicy fragrance,” says Eden Standley (they/them), outreach specialist at the Tacoma Tree Foundation. “To be sure it is a Western redcedar, you might look closely at its scaly needles: if the scaling pattern resembles a braid or a plait, you’ve identified a Western red. Hence the Latin name Plicata, meaning “plaited.”

“It is known as “the tree of life” because of its important role for Coast Salish people, who use it for medicine, ceremonies, canoes and houses, clothing and diapers, basket and rope weaving,” continues Standley. “It is generally prized as a building material because the wood is rot-resistant, making it ideal for outdoor structures and roof shingles. Western reds are the oldest recorded trees in the Pacific Northwest, some living over 1500 years. However, this may change due to rising temperatures related to climate change. Recently, scientists have observed an alarming number of western reds succumbing to dieback, where an entire tree, or parts of it, suddenly start to die.

This Western redcedar lives on as Peaks & Pints’ beer tap log.

Check out the tiny Western redcedars close to the mountain biking trailhead just south of the dog park at Swan Creek Park, and then head to the Proctor District for a pint or Campfire Crowler of Loowit Silent Trees IPA (6.6%) at Peaks & Pints. Loowit Brewing in Vancouver, Washington, collaborated with the Tacoma craft beer lodge on their house beer. Paying homage to trees and outdoor enthusiasts who join Peaks daily in Tacoma’s Proctor District, Silent Trees IPA is the perfect beer to toast passing trees on powder, currents, or trails and reveal the sprains. Silent Trees IPA continues Peaks & Pints’ love affair with old-school piney IPAs, this time brewed with Simcoe, Columbus, and Chinook for all the pine and citrus.

“The Tacoma Tree Foundation staff adore this tree for the life it gives to our region, and we’re excited about how this research will help preserve this iconic tree, sustain Coast Salish cultures, and the health of our urban forests. Anyone is welcome to visit the network site at Swan Creek and see the baby Western reds as they progress,” Standley adds.

LINK: Loowit Silent Trees IPA inspires Tacoma Tree stories

LINK: Tacoma Silent Trees: Breaking Silence Near People’s Park

LINK: Tacoma Silent Trees: Breaking Silence at Oak Tree Park

LINK: Kulshan brews Peaks and Pints Tree-dimensional IPA