Cedar seedlings at Dorothy Johnson'sThis winter Vashon Forest Stewards crews helped replant island forests which had been thinned over the last year. More than 4,500 bareroot native trees were planted in Island Center Forest, Dockton Forest and several private forests. The forestry operations all either thinned Douglas-firs from overcrowded stands or harvested red alder from mature or overly mature alder stands. By far the largest number of young bareroot seedlings planted were western red cedars. They are a native species that are shade tolerant so they do well when planted in and around existing tree canopies. They are a climax tree in the Pacific Northwest forest ecosystem which means they are long lived - one of the last trees standing in the natural forest sucsession. We also planted bareroot Douglas-fir, western white pine, cascara, both big-leaf and vine maples, red osier dogwood and ninebark.