The Path to Old Growth Forests

Published by Rob Underhill on 04/28/2026 05/01/2026

Spend enough time in a place or with the same people and you will find you have in small ways become a reflection of those places and people. For example, you may acquire a wind weathered face or adopt the mannerisms of a close friend.

Now think about trees, rooted in place for hundreds of years. They are the ultimate reflection of a place and the things that have happened there over time. If you stand in a very old forest, you will notice there is a special feeling, and that feeling is a unique representation of that place. In old growth coastal Douglas fir forests (the very few that remain), you will notice how big the trees are, and how far apart they are from one another. You will also notice there are different species of trees, and they have each acquired unique characteristics; a reflection of their experiences. Light filters through the high canopy to support the growth of younger trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. Occasional large dead or dying trees are present in varying stages of decomposition, from standing snags full of bats and birds to rotten logs sheltering insects, frogs, and newts. It is a place full of diversity, both physically and biologically. This diversity is a strength. It makes these forests more resilient to change, and better placed to adapt to an uncertain future.

Now consider a young forest. Young forests are also a reflection of a place and what has happened there. Within most forests on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island, an important thing that has happened is logging. Nearly the entire island has been logged in the past 150 years, and most has been logged twice. Recently, large areas were logged in the 1950’s and 1990’s. This has left a legacy of young forests of varying ages.

Figure 1. Fire and logging history of the remaining undeveloped areas of SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island (as of 2005). This figure was created by the Mayne Island Conservancy using data from the Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping completed by Green, 2008. The data represented in this figure covers the 1,642ha of SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island remaining in an undeveloped state as of 2005, and represents the most recent disturbance indicated in the dataset. Note, any land clearing or logging since 2005 is not captured in this data. Land clearing and small-scale logging continue on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island.

If you stand in a young forest with a history of clearcut logging, you will notice the trees are small and growing tightly together. They are competing with each other for light, stretching with all their available resources to grow as tall as possible, as quickly as possible. The dense canopy of spindly trees allows little light to reach the forest floor. There are few plants growing in the understory due to a combination of poor light and deer overpopulation. This young forest is not diverse, physically or biologically, and is not resilient to change. Since the trees are weak from competition, they are at risk of laminated root rot. Laminated root rot does not affect western red cedar or broad-leaf trees such arbutus, big leaf maple, or red alder. But if all the trees are Douglas fir, the root rot can expand throughout the forest because is has plentiful and well-connected host trees. If there is a fire, the tightly spaced trees also provide a continuous source of fuel for the fire to spread. Even if the forest escapes root rot and fire long enough for the weaker trees to die from competition, the remaining trees are so spindly and weak they are vulnerable to wind damage, root rot, and insect attack. In short, the legacy of extreme competition within a homogenous forest of young Douglas fir may be an entire generation of short-lived trees. The characteristics of old forests we value, such as diversity and resilience, may never arise in some young forests.

This paints a rather grim picture of forest health in young forests. It is a scenario that can be found across an alarming extent of the coastal Douglas fir biogeoclimatic zone. However, it is important to note this is not the case in many areas that were logged on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island. In fact, based on data and experience, some of our young forests here are on a healthier path. Much of the logging that occurred in the last 80 years was selective. That means at least some of the trees were left behind, maybe even most of them in some cases. The varied topography is also helpful for reducing the continuity of large-scale homogenous forests. The understory health of our forests is another matter, though that is often a result of deer overpopulation, a topic for another article.

In places where we do see intense competition between young Douglas fir trees, are there actions we can take to improve forest health and help guide these young forests on a path to healthy old growth? How do we identify where it makes sense to act, and what actions should we take? If we thin the forest to create gaps, encourage diversity, and reduce wildfire risk, what should we do with all the woody material that results from that thinning? Those excellent questions have been the focus of recent collaborations bringing together representatives from conservation, forestry, and wildfire management. Work is ongoing on Galiano Island, led by the Galiano Conservancy Association, and in the Comox Valley, led by Wolftree Integrative Forest Rehabilitation.

In fact, the Galiano Conservancy was an early pioneer of this type of work, having acquired a young forest that was heavily impacted by industrial clearcut logging in 1978 at Pebble Beach, Galiano Island. Acquiring the property in 1998, the Galiano Conservancy was faced with a forest ecosystem that had been thrown off anything resembling a natural succession pathway. A dense monoculture of genetically similar Douglas fir planted in rows seemed destined for failure. What could they do? They experimented with a diversity of novel techniques, led by retired physicist Ken Millard and a young biologist named Keith Erickson. They created gaps in the forest to encourage diversity, dismantled slash piles, and erected dead trees for wildlife. Most interestingly, they did it all without the aid of power tools. Utilizing Ken’s physics background, they used chain hoists in creative ways to pull trees down by hand, mimicking a windstorm. Read more about that fascinating work.

More recently, the Galiano Conservancy has been applying actions in naturally regenerated young forests that have grown up following logging and fire. Their goals are to increase diversity and resilience, while reducing wildfire hazards. Meanwhile, Tal Engel from Wolftree Integrative Forest Rehabilitation has been working with partners in the Comox Valley using similar techniques in a post-industrial logged area. Tal is working towards his master’s degree and has been inspiring a collaboration of professionals to come together and explore the intersection of forest health, wildfire, and community stewardship.

We are excited to welcome Tal to SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island in May. He will be giving a presentation at the Fire Hall at 7pm on May 27^th and leading a forest walk at Henderson Community Park at 10am on May 28^th. Henderson Park offers an interesting case study for us. Portions of the property were clearcut in 2005 and the resulting natural regeneration of Douglas fir in some places is very dense. The Conservancy, in partnership with the Mayne Island Parks and Recreation Commission, is exploring what restoration actions could be taken to improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk in the park. Tal’s visit is a great opportunity for anyone interested in forest health. We hope you can join us! Get more details on the event page.