So How Much Is 756 Acres of Trees, Anyway?

It’s an odd number, 756. Well, of course it is an even number, but it is odd in the sense of random. Our Forest Fund, with the help of state, county and tribal funds along with the generous donations of hundreds of members of the community, saved 756 acres of forest from clearcut.

But I think it is hard to visualize how much acreage that is, especially as it is in three very odd-shaped chunks in the Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park.

Perhaps a unit of measure other than an acre will have more relevance to some people.  756 acres equals 1.18125 square miles. If you think in metric, it means 306 hectares or 3.06 square kilometers. But we can also visualize it in other, less abstract measures…

It is more than the entire acreage of the main campus of the University of Washington plus the Bremerton and Poulsbo Olympic College campuses combined.

But How Many Trees Does That Mean?

The 756 acres are overstocked with plantation Douglas firs at about 350 trees per acre, and the county is in the process of doing an ecological thinning of them.  The county parks forester is aiming for about 200 trees per acre, which means we have saved 151,200 trees!  That really is quite an accomplishment. It is just amazing what we can do if we set our minds and energies to it!

Our Forest Fund is continuing to accept donations which will be applied to our next project.  Please make a donation if you can. Like planting a seed or a baby tree, in a few years, your contribution will join with others and help save a forest.  And the planet will be better off forever because of it.