North Olympic Land Trust to honor Port Angeles man

Published 1:30 am Saturday, April 11, 2026

PORT ANGELES — The man who started the Port Angeles City Shade Street Tree program will be honored with a North Olympic Land Trust award this weekend.

Paul Forrest will be presented with the Out Standing in the Field Award at 1 p.m. Sunday during the 18th annual Conservation Connections gathering at Field Arts & Events Hall, 201 W. Front St.

“I’m excited, it’s really great,” Forrest said during an interview Friday. “I know a number of people who have received it in the past, and I’m very honored to be among them.”

The Out Standing in the Field Award is “dedicated to changemakers and conservation-minded citizens, groups and individuals whose efforts make a lasting impact to improve quality of life on the North Olympic Peninsula,” according to a news release.

“Paul’s deep commitment to conservation is matched only by his enthusiasm for strengthening his community,” the release stated.

Forrest said he was surprised when he found out he was chosen for the award.

“I had no idea this would happen,” he said. “I was pruning a hedge in my back yard when (North Olympic Land Trust Executive Director) Tom Sanford walked up and told me what they would like to do. I was really shocked.”

Forrest will be honored for his work on the City Shade Street Tree program, which he launched in 2023.

“In 2018, after recognizing the declining state of the urban tree canopy in Port Angeles, Paul began building what would become a transformative street tree program,” the news release stated. “His efforts led to the launch of the City Shade Street Tree program in 2023. Since then, the initiative has planted more than 400 trees across the city — bringing lasting benefits such as cleaner air and water, slowing of residential traffic, increased shade, improved public health and enhanced habitat for local wildlife.”

Forrest said he first began thinking about the number of trees in Port Angeles while he was at the county historical museum with his wife, Gail McDonald.

“There was a display of old photographs of Port Angeles and looking at them, I said to Gail, ‘I think there were more trees then than there are now,’ and it was true,” Forrest said. “When I retired, I thought I could figure out how to grow trees and start a street tree program. We had fallen in love with Port Angeles and I wanted to have a good civic engagement.”

Forrest used his background in agriculture to research trees and start growing them in 2019.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen, it could have been a total failure, but I knew it was something I could probably do,” Forrest said. “Out of 1,400 tree seedlings, I only had about a 14 percent success rate, which turns out is good for an amateur.”

Those trees became the first ones given out through the program in 2023 and 2024. Last October, Port Angeles took over the program by giving out trees the city had purchased.

The Shade Street Tree program works by allowing Port Angeles residents to apply to receive up to two free street trees, according to the news release.

“These trees will be strategically planted within the public right-of-way (typically between the sidewalk and curb) to beautify our neighborhoods and support the health of our local environment,” the release stated. “Residents also have the option to plant a tree purchased on their own. City staff will work with residents to identify areas that would benefit from additional trees and offer a variety of species appropriate for that location’s size and soil conditions.”

Forrest has a bachelor of arts degree in economics from San Francisco State University, a bachelor of science degree in crop science from Oregon State University and a master’s degree in agronomy and plant genetics from the University of Arizona.

When he first graduated from college, his first job was with the Peace Corps as a volunteer trained in agriculture and working in Guatemala.

“By the time I finished my two years, I decided I wanted to make agriculture my career, and it was a wonderful career,” Forrest said.

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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.