Parker’s Landing trees selected for ‘heritage’ status

The Washington State University Master Gardener Program has selected seven trees at Washougal’s Parker’s Landing Historical Park to join its Clark County Heritage Tree program, which recognizes “trees of significance” in unincorporated Clark County.

“(This recognition is) important because it gives the history there even more significance,” said Susan Tripp, the president of the Parkersville National Historic Site Advisory Committee to the Port of Camas-Washougal (PAC).

“It’s going to be helpful for promoting the history in the park and educating people about the historic families and the events that are tied to those trees. It just gives us another layer of community pride in that historical park.”

PAC members nominated the apple, cherry, and walnut trees for program consideration earlier this year.

According to the program’s website, heritage status may be granted to a single tree if it has a diameter of at least 36 inches, is located in a “special” site, has a documented age or relation to a historical event, and is an unusual species for the area; and to a grove if it is mature, contains trees that are distinctive due to size, condition, species or age, associated with a historical event, and has a relationship with a natural resource.

Often long-lived and large in size, heritage trees “may serve as living markers of times gone by or notable places, be associated with historic persons or events, or be unusual by their presence in this part of the world,” according to the program’s website.

“We were hopeful (that we’d earn the designation) because Cascade Tree Works helped us with the nomination in terms of verifying that the trees were healthy and that they had the age associated with the history of the park,” Tripp said. “Really, what the program is looking for are trees that are tied to a story, a struggle, event, or historical families, and we certainly had that. We felt based on the criteria that we met all of the requirements, so we were quite confident from that standpoint, but there was nothing like getting that letter that (said) they have been accepted.

“It’s really fun to receive the enthusiasm from the WSU Master Gardeners group, because they would love to see more and more trees recognized for their historical significance.”

The Parker’s Landing trees are the ninth entry in the program’s catalog, which can be viewed at extension.wsu.edu/clark/heritage-tree/.

“The grove of trees in this historic park includes walnut, cherry, apple, locust and tulip trees, all of them important for their historic location and some for their size, species and beauty,” the website states. “What makes this grove special is the diversity of species and history that surrounds the site.”

The trees were most likely planted by members of the Van Vleet family, which lived on the property for several generations in the 19th and 20th centuries, according to Tripp.

“In 1978, Mary Van Vleet said the walnut tree was 110 years old, maybe planted by Lewis Van Vleet Sr.,” PAC member Jim Cooper wrote in a nomination letter. “The Van Vleets or one of the farmers leasing the land before 1950 likely planted the heritage cherry tree sometime between 1913 and 1950. It may have been planted in honor of Louisa Van Vleet following her death. The (apple) orchard was planted in 1940 or before by the Van Vleet family.”

Cascade Tree Works arborists told the PAC members earlier this year that the trees have been threatened by the increasingly warm and dry summers that have baked the region during the past several years. The park does not have irrigation due to its status as a Chinookan archeological site, according to Tripp.

To combat the issue, committee members watered the trees on a regular basis, an effort aided by representatives of several organizations, including Boy Scout Troop 562, the Garden Club of Camas and Washougal, and the Camas-Washougal Rotary Club.

But Tripp says that more has to be done if the trees are going to endure for generations to come.