Drift Logs Important For Beaches

Beaches on the Pacific coast are littered with bleached drift wood

Drift logs are important parts of beaches all along the Pacific coast.

The banner at the top of this blog is a photo that was taken on a beach in nearby Washington state. When the photo was taken the mammoth drift log was newly arrived on the beach and was still dark and hydrated.

After a while on beaches on the coast, drift logs age to a beautiful sun-bleached white-ish grey colour. The picture at the top of this post is of the very same drift log used for my banner, except the log has been desiccated by summertime sunny days.

But drift logs are good for more than having fun looking at them and climbing upon their prone trunks.

Drift logs closer to home on French Beach near Sooke

Often drift logs have sawn ends, an indication they are escapees from log booms or other logging operations. Regardless of their origin, drift wood acts as an important stabilizer of beaches.

In the winter these logs are tossed like tiny toothpicks by high tides and pounding waves. In the summer they settle into place and trap sand and organic material. This maintains the beach structure and provides habitat for all manner of living things.

In this way, the trees continue to do work even as they slowly decompose back into the environment.

Drift log near my home shows evidence of logging

Driftwood On The Move

This 30 meter long cedar washed up on a local beach after a winter storm

Winter on the west coast means lot of rain, high water flows in rivers, and the highest tides of the year. That means storm tossed driftwood is on the move. Winter beachcombers are pleasantly surprised by the appearance of new woody debris on local beaches.

Often these drift logs, given up by the fury of the ocean goddesses, become the target of salvage operations. While recovered Douglas-fir is may be used for lumber or firewood, more valuable Western red-cedar, or Yellow-cedar, is valued for shakes, shingles, furniture, and structural wood.

30 meters of usable, if somewhat inaccessible, cedar 

Drift logs on beaches may be accessible to water, or land-based wood recovery efforts. I am amazed by the lengths the professionals will go to salvage beautiful chunks of wood from wherever they come to rest.

Shortly after the cedar washed up, the bole was cut and removed from the beach

I have seen some small scale log salvaging operations near my home on Billings Spit. Drift logs often show up in the Sooke River estuary after being washed down the Sooke River during high water flow events that scour the river and wash out fallen debris. Occasionally really big debris washes down to the sea.

Large drift log in the Sooke River estuary

I have watched small boats carrying salvagers with large chain saws approach drift logs in the Sooke River estuary in order to lay claim to prize woody resources. At high tide they move in, and the chain saw is used to cut the root section off so the log cab be slowly hauled away for processing.

Detail - cedar is very rot-resistant, and is highly sought after. Large cedars are becoming rarer.

Some of the drift logs on beaches are large enough to withstand not only the salvagers, but also the onslaught of years of winter weather. These semi permanent drift logs become lasting features on the otherwise ever-changing beach landscape. Until a really BIG storm comes along.

The storms give it up, the storms take it away, unless the beachcombers get to it first.

The biggest log in the background will only be
moved by the mother of all storms

I recently saw the results of a log salvage operation about 3 km up the Sooke River where a large cedar fell partially into the water. The middle section of the log had been sawed out, leaving the root section on the bank, and the top stranded alone in the middle of the river.

The saw operator had to work suspended over the water for both cuts - I would have liked to witness the skill this must have demanded.

Salvaging a red cedar from the Sooke River

The only way to get the log out is to float it down the river during high water, or high tide (preferably both) then wrangle it, tether it to a boat, and haul it somewhere it could be hoisted from the water.

Big trees and big storms mean big drift logs on the move. It is all part of the beauty of a west coast winter.

Big Trees, Big Roots

Giant roots holding an old growth Douglas-fir as it slumps
 into the sea on Billings Spit, Sooke Harbour

The misty coastal forest is the place to see monumental trees. As awesome as these giants are, we are only seeing 3/4 of the total tree, and even less of the total forest life. There is a lot going on under our feet as our gaze is lifted skyward.


Roots can compose 25% or more of the total biomass of a tree. Scientists have found that up to 66% of a Douglas-fir forest's total biomass is out of sight underground.

Trees on Port Renfrew beach showing root remnants

A sapling can have several feet of roots, so it is not surprising that an ancient tree can have hundreds of kilometers of them. An old growth tree 150 meters (300 ft) tall and and 5 meters (15 ft) wide, needs an extensive root system to support the trunk and canopy.

Early settlers on Vancouver Island used bonfires and dynamite to extract the massive stumps and roots when clearing the big trees of the primal forest.

"Well into the 20th century 'stumping powder' (low-grade dynamite) was used to blow a stump apart, so that the fragments could be removed more easily. Someone wishing to remove a stump tunneled under it, inserted enough powder to break it apart (preferably without damaging the arable soil), lit a fuse and got out of the way. If the detonation didn't come, it was best to avoid the area for a day or so, as many a stump-wrangler lost life or limb to a belated blast."  - source

This Western red cedar's roots look a lot like octopus tentacles

Roots anchor the tree, provide uptake of nutrients and water for growth, store food reserves, and produce organic materials required for tree growth. Roots also interact with beneficial fungi, and with other trees.

Tree roots exposed by the flowing waters of Sooke River

Douglas-fir roots readily fuse together, blending the lines between individual trees (and species of trees) and the forest as one large organism. This crossover of roots can keep the stump of a cut Douglas-fir alive long enough to grow a layer of bark over the cut.

Roots are fragile structures that can't handle rough treatment. Soil compaction restricts water and oxygen uptake, and can be caused by heavy foot traffic over the tree's root zone. It is best to avoid, if possible, walking or driving over a tree's roots.

Small protective fence surrounding the Harris Creek Spruce, Port Renfrew

It is because of potential soil compaction and root damage that you will find fences and boardwalks around some of Vancouver Island's most visited big trees. The Harris Creek Spruce has a small protective fence around its ample base, but a raised boardwalk would be ideal.

Heaven Tree boardwalk, Carmanah/Walbran Park

Heaven Tree, in Carmanah/Walbran Park, has boardwalks built over the tree's roots and around the tree's circumference. Such measures prevent soil compaction over the root zone, and helps protect these trees from being loved to death.

Next time you are out in the forest, pause to consider all the activity that is occurring under your feet. Notice the places roots make their presence known, such as along hiking trails through the forest, and in areas that have been eroded, leaving roots exposed.

The 'feet' of the giants can be as fascinating as their more glamorous and obvious parts.

The Wonder Of Trees

"The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more..."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I often wonder about the old growth Douglas-fir above. It hangs over the beach of the spit formed by the waters of the Sooke River interacting with the tides in the estuary. The massive bulk of this tree defies gravity and several other formidable and relentless forces of nature.

Exposed roots, forced out of hiding by the scouring of freshets and high tides, now provide a visible scaffolding under the slumping trunk. Other roots, as thick as the major branches above, sink deep into the bank for support and nourishment.

At the other end of this hardy survivor, the top of the tree, or leader, does a sharp bend back from the water, in a slow-motion counterbalance intended to keep the tree from toppling into the sea.

I am comforted every time I see that this old timer continues on in defiance of the elements. It stands, tough, resilient, patient, and steadfast.

I wonder how long it can continue.

Billings Spit: Trees and Beaches

An unusual bent Douglas-fir on west Billings Beach

Billings Spit, in the coastal town of Sooke, BC, is good place to see nice urban trees in a residential neighbourhood, as well as a good place to take a walk along a scenic stretch of rocky beach. The beaches here often have large drift logs that come and go with the storms, tides, and winds.

Mallards and Widgeons in Seabroom Park, off Kaltasin Road, Billings Spit

Seabroom Park, found at the end of Seabroom Road, is a salt marsh that is often flooded at high tides. This tiny undeveloped park is great for ducks, and to access a nice stretch of beach. If you are wearing your gumboots you could pass through. If not, best to return when it is drier. This beach is on the Sooke Basin side of the spit.

Cedar stump on the tip of Billings Spit

All winter long storms wash great pieces of wood onto Billings Spit beaches. Some are large enough to stay for months, or sometimes years, before moving on. The stump shown above had a complete 30 meter long silvery trunk before log salvagers came for its valuable wood. Eventually the remains moved off the beach, possibly to head out to sea for a while.

There is a view and access to the beach from this small Billings Spit park

There is another small undeveloped park not far from Seabroom. It is at the end of Kaltasin Road. It provides access to the beach on the Sooke Harbour side of the spit, and contains a couple of impressive large diameter Douglas-fir. If you visit, please do the trees a favour and park on the street instead of in the park on their roots.

Near the north end of the beach on the harbour side are several Douglas-fir veterans, including a couple that hang precariously over the beach

The west beach on Billings Spit (harbour side) doubles as a riverbank as this is where the Sooke River enters the ocean. This makes for a dynamic system rich in plant and animal life, and makes excellent habitat for many species of birds, black bear, river otters, a nesting pair of eagles, and impressive salmon runs in the fall. There are also some old trees to be seen on the banks, as well as chunky bits of drift wood littering the beach.

Glenidle Road feels like a tunnel through the trees - the old cedars are great

Even the streets of the Billings Spit area have big trees to be seen. Along Glenidle Road are several old growth Western red-cedars that have grown large fluted trunks. Rumour has it than when the sewer system is extended to Billings Spit these magnificent trees may have to be cut down to make way for the construction. I hope that is wrong. These centuries old trees look like healthy, robust specimens.

Glenidle Road big cedars

Getting There

Billings Spit is about a 10 minute drive from Sooke's town center, and about 35 minutes from Victoria. It is on bus route #61. Often people park on Highway 14, and do a walking loop down through the neighbourhood, incorporating a bit of beachcombing along the way. The best time to visit is at lower tides (consult tide table here).


View Billings Spit - Trees and Beaches in a larger map

Another Grand Beach Stump

Another semi-permanent feature of Billing Spit is this large chunk of tree left over after logging sometime in the distant past. More than likely it was logged from somewhere in the Sooke river watershed, and eventually tumbled down into a winter raging river only to flow out into the harbour and land here. This giant is toward the end of Billings Spit just on the west facing beach.

As far as I know this log does not move with storms or tides. It has been here for at least as long as I have been here, but surely its tenancy is much longer than just 5 years. No doubt it will continue to live here for many years in the future.

Check out the DBH (diameter at breast height) of this tree. I am just shy of six feet. The log tapers quite quickly, though, but I still figure this douglas fir was between 3 and 400 years old when cut. Often old growth trees that are cut or fall in storms, or die of old age continue to lie around for many decades, perhaps a century, or more. They keep giving after getting horizontal, providing habitat and nutrients for hundreds of different species.