Jul/Aug 2026
One of the best parts about spring and summer in the forest is all the new life at its cutest. Black tailed deer does usually have twins when food is aplenty and the fawns love to be able to retreat into safety of the forest. To see more posts like this, follow @hoovenforest on Instagram and Facebook .
Welcome New Steering Members
The Friends of Hooven Forest Steering Committee is delighted to welcome three new community members: Cisco Jimenez, Jennifer Gabriel and Wayland Cossey. Zach Stevens has also joined the FOHF Board. Read more about their backgrounds on our website. Get in touch with us at info@hoovenforest.org if you are interested in becoming more involved.
Forest Campfire Alert
With the recent declaration of a Stage 2 Burn Ban, we remind folks that all outdoor burning is completely prohibited, including residential yard waste and recreational campfires. It should be obvious to all that the drought we are experiencing this year makes any kind of fire an extreme hazard to our forests.
On Thursday evening, July 30th, neighbors observed a group of individuals park their car at the end of 85th Avenue SE and then entered Hooven Forest at the trailhead with store-bought wood, tinder, lighter fluid and igniters. They subsequently observed a campfire burning near the rope swing, and then called 911. Fire District 9 dispatched firefighters into Hooven Forest to extinguish the remaining campfire. See photo.
In addition, FOHF was alerted that three separate illegal campfires were found on adjacent Crystal Lake Tree Farm private property in their Paradise Forest timber stand. One of these fires was left smoldering and re-ignited, but fortunately a group of neighbors was able to extinguish it. Crystal Lake, Inc. has filed a report with the Snohomish County Sheriff, and is offering a reward of $500 for information leading to arrest (call Chris Thompson, Crystal Lake Board President at 425-765-0683 or Klev Schoening Forest Advisory Committee 206-979-5043). If you see any fire activity in either Hooven Forest or at Crystal Lake, please call 911 immediately.
Thank You To Our Generous Donors
We would like to thank Lydia Fitzpatrick for her recent $1000 donation to Friends of Hooven Forest! Along with other recent donations from the community (with corporate matching), we have been able to support ongoing costs like insurance for our community events. We greatly appreciate your tax deductible contributions to Friends of Hooven Forest.
Upcoming and Recent Events
November - We are planning a Hooven Forest Film Night in November! We will be screening Last Stand: Saving the Elwha River’s Legacy Forests followed by a Q&A with the documentary’s star Elizabeth Dunne. Stay tuned for more details and also let us know at info@hoovenforest.org if you are interested in helping with this event.
October - Friends of Hooven Forest Book Club will meet in October to discuss The Overstory: A Novel at Woodinville Barnes and Noble. We’re excited to read our first fiction book! Past books include Finding the Mother Tree, Hidden Life of Trees, and Last Child in the Woods. Please get in touch with us at info@hoovenforest.org if you would like to join.
July - Steering Committee members Cisco and Jennifer attended the PNW Forest Climate Alliance annual potluck on July 25th. FOHF is part of this Alliance to share information about forest conservation efforts around the region. Jennifer and Cisco had the opportunity to meet with representatives from almost a dozen environmentally engaged organizations who are a part of the CASC, discussing ways our organizations can work together and support one another to forward climate resilience and adaptation in Snohomish County.
Partner Spotlight
The Snohomish League of Women Voters has formed a committee on Reasonable Forest Management of Public Lands that is specifically dedicated towards educating the citizens of Snohomish County on the value of leaving old, large, structurally complex “legacy” forests standing on public land like Hooven Forest. The charter of this committee aligns closely with our work to conserve Hooven Forest.
“We are asking our Snohomish County Council to collaborate with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on a forest management plan that conserves legacy forests through Natural Climate Solutions funds, the Trust Land Transfer Program, reconveyance, carbon parks, and other tools that align with Tribal rights.
Legacy forests are extremely rare. The 2.4 million acres of forest land managed by DNR contain less than 77,000 acres of carbon-dense structurally complex legacy forests. The legacy forests are carbon workhorses that, if cut, will release 31 million metric tons of CO2—and the complex ecosystem both known and unknown, will be lost for a century. We want the Snohomish County Council to urge the DNR to harvest younger forests using ecological forest management practices to provide long-term wood production while permanently conserving legacy forests.”
