Forest health suffering after 2021 heatwave, fires

OLYMPIA — The exceptionally hot and dry year that was 2021 was the main cause of damage to many tens of thousands of the state’s trees, according to the Washington Department of Natural Resources annual forest health report. According to a DNR press release, state researchers working with U.S. Forest Service jointly surveyed 19 million acres of forest across the state and found 3% of those acres — around 555,000 thousand — were covered with dead, defoliated and diseased trees...