Olympic NF Hazard Tree Mitigation Hit by Tree 2025

On December 17, 2025, two U.S. Forest Service employees were conducting hazard tree mitigation work at Big Creek Campground on the Olympic National Forest. The work was intended to reduce identified hazards and support employee and public safety within the campground.

During hand falling of a dead Douglas-fir approximately 10 inches in diameter at breast height (DBH) and 70 feet tall, several cutting actions at the stump resulted in the tree pulling to the left of the intended lay. As the tree began to commit to the fall, the top of the snag contacted a lower branch of an adjacent fir tree. This contact caused the upper portion of the dead snag to break and fold back toward the stump. As the top collapsed backward, it broke apart and a 3-inch DBH and 1 ½-foot-long piece of the broken top struck the sawyer on the left forearm, resulting in a fracture.