Aug 2025
Note: We took a break in July — here’s what’s new in August!
In this edition:
Community Connections
Safety & Sustainability Reminder
Hooven Forest Stewardship Plan
Huckleberries!
🌱 Community Connections
Mindfulness in Nature: Every Sunday at 4pm
Join Ana Huston for weekly mindfulness sessions Sundays 4 - 5:30pm, where you will practice present moment awareness and establish a meditation practice. The next one is tomorrow - Sun Aug 10 at 4pm. Enter from the entrance at 166th Ave NE / 85th Ave SE and walk a few minutes in on the trail (map). Contact Ana at ae1031_at_hotmail.com if you have any questions.
Nature Drawing: Sunday, August 31 at 4pm
We love the new Hooven Forest map drawn by local artist and neighbor Nicole Monahan. As a way of continuing her support, Nicole is offering a free nature sketching class the last Sunday of each month. The next one is Sun Aug 31 at 4pm - meet at the entrance off 170th (map). Contact Nicole at nicole_at_ monahanstudio.com if you have any questions.
Connect with us online
Help us show the public value of Hooven Forest — please follow, like, review, and share on📍Google Maps, 👍 Facebook, 📸 Instagram, and ▶️ YouTube.
🌲 Safety & Sustainability Reminder
The Steering Committee reminds everyone to recreate safely and sustainably on our state lands, including Hooven Forest. We have encountered evidence on some of our walks through the forest of people who may need a refresher on the DNR's guidelines:
Hooven Forest is NOT considered a DNR "developed recreation facility.” Pack out what you pack in (especially garbage). Please leave the natural habitat undisturbed, and stick to the established trails to minimize habitat degradation.
Unfortunately, we have seen evidence of small trees being felled and forts created, pits dug, and larger trees defaced off trail in Hooven Forest (trail maintenance, of course, is different).
Campfires are not allowed. Be aware of fire danger. Wildfire is NOT just an Eastern Washington hazard. 2025 is shaping up to be as dry or dryer than 2023. The vast majority of wildfires are caused by humans — don't be that human.
Please help DNR maintain the forest by reporting suspicious or illegal activity to Natural Resource Officer Greg Erwin at (360) 742-9440.
🤲 Hooven Forest Stewardship Plan
Solveig recently took a WSU Extension Forest Stewardship course and is drafting a Forest Stewardship Plan for Hooven Forest.
A Forest Stewardship Plan is usually written by a landowner to inventory a forest's natural resources, map the geography, identify soil types, focus the goals and objectives for a forest, and outline steps the landowner can take to achieve them. Some landowners choose to grow trees, some choose to rehabilitate their forest, and some just want a preserve a healthy forest to pass on to their heirs. While WA DNR has created draft plans for both a potential timber harvest of Hooven Forest and also for turning it into a recreation facility, no stewardship plan has ever been created to inventory the existing forest and what steps can be taken to keep the forest and its ecosystem as healthy as possible.
In addition, our Steering Committee members have been attending meetings held by other groups working at the Snohomish County and Washington State level to help preserve state forests, such as the Legacy Forest Defense Coalition, the Center For Responsible Forestry, the Pacific Northwest Climate Alliance's Working Lands group, and the Reasonable Forest Management group. This latter group is working on a plan to present to the Snohomish County Council to help DNR preserve more mature forests like Hooven throughout the county while still compensating the county for any forgone revenue if the forest is preserved instead of harvested or sold off.
We are learning about some of the terms used by these groups, such as "Maturation Level II,” "structurally complex forests," and "legacy forests" that could be used to describe Hooven Forest for state and local policy purposes.
🫐 Huckleberries!
As we draw to a close of the huckleberry season, some of you may be wondering what is a huckleberry, anyway?
A huckleberry is a common name in the Pacific Northwest for small wild berries that sometimes look like blueberries. The word huckleberry appears to be an American word derived originally from “hurtle-berry,” a corruption of the Saxon heart-berg or “the hart’s berry.”
Huckleberries range from red to purple in color. They are related to blueberries and cranberries but have a unique, intense, and tart flavor. There’s a ton of range of taste, habitat and appearance because there are over 30 species in North America that people generally refer to as huckleberries. If you've ever been to Montana, you've seen the many roadside stands and tourist destinations offering various mountain huckleberry (a small, purple berry) products.
The ones commonly spotted along the walking trails of Hooven Forest, however, are the red huckleberry, or vaccinium parvifolium. Notoriously difficult to cultivate, these deciduous plants thrive in the semi-shaded understory of towering western red cedar, douglas fir, and big leaf maples found in Hooven Forest.
Huckleberries are delicious eating for humans, birds, and other animals of the forest. The season is short, usually only a few weeks, and these berries do not transport well, so they are best eaten right off the bush. Because this summer has been so dry, many are still hanging out. Find out more at the International Wild Huckleberry Association.
