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Spring 2026

Forestry

Flowering trees with evergreen trees in the background
Summer 2025

Mapping trees in Tacoma

Nelson Pham spent six hours at Tacoma’s Boze Elementary School one day last summer. Armed with the iNaturalist app and GPS tagging, he identified and mapped every tree on the school’s property.

Some trees were healthy, others were struggling. Only two were providing shade for the crowd of spectators watching youth soccer games at the school’s playfields.

“All these parents were just baking in the sun,” says Pham, a Tacoma Community College student. “I wondered where the trees were.”

By the end of the summer, Pham created an interactive database of trees at 12 Tacoma schools. The work was part of an internship with … » More …

Woman on a beach in a hat and coat with binoculars
Summer 2025

At home in the Pacific Northwest woods

After many years of service, wildlife biologist Betsy L. Howell (’87 Wildlife Mgmt.) wrote about her calling in Wild Forest Home: Stories of Conservation in the Pacific Northwest (The University of Utah Press, 2024).

Book cover of Wild Forest Home, shows forest illustration

Howell talks with Washington State Magazine about her career, conservation, and time at Washington State University.

 

Talk about your time at WSU. How well did it prepare you for your career? Who were your mentors? What are your favorite … » More …

John McGuire near a forest wearing a red safety vest and leaning on a tool
Spring 2024

Fire and longleaf pines: A talk with John McGuire

John McGuire (’93 Env. Sci., ’95 Biol.) directs the Private Lands Prescribed Fire Program at Tall Timbers, Inc. He holds a master’s degree in forestry from Auburn University and serves as president of both the Alabama Prescribed Fire Council and Alabama Invasive Plant Council.

His awards include 2016 Forest Conservationist of the Year in Jackson, Missouri; 2008 Longleaf Alliance Contribution Award in Auburn, Alabama; 2004 USDA Forest Service Centennial Congress Award in Asheville, North Carolina; 2003 South Carolina Wildlife Society Forest Stewardship Award in Columbia, South Carolina; and 2000 Governor’s Award for Forest Conservation in Montgomery, Alabama.

McGuire was the outreach coordinator for the Longleaf … » More …

Illustration of elves dancing around Christmas tree
Winter 2022

Talkin’ around the Christmas tree

The Pacific Northwest—particularly western Washington and Oregon—has historically been a major Christmas tree production region. Today, it produces about a third of the Christmas trees sold each year in America.

In general, there are two types of growers: large-scale farms producing trees for the wholesale market and smaller, often family-run operations for the choose-and-cut market.

 

Christmas trees around the United States:

The top Christmas tree-producing states are: Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington.
The average growing time is seven years, but it can take as few as four and as many as 15 to reach the typical height of 6 … » More …