This post is part of our Trees of Significance series where we highlight tree species through their connection to our staff, Board members, partners and volunteers.

Unless otherwise noted, madrone photos are credited to Michael Yadrick. Please credit if using.

Trees can be role models. For Michael Yadrick, TTF Board of Directors President and ecologist for the City of Tacoma, they certainly are. In particular, Michael finds in the Pacific madrone a role model for how to thrive in harsh conditions and difficult climate circumstances, and how to grow by establishing relationships with those around us, as the madrone does with other native plants and animals.

Madrones are a broad-leaf evergreen tree native to the Pacific coast, typically found growing out of the side of ocean-facing cliffs and rocky bluffs. They are famous for their colorful bark and sun-searching branches. The tree is known by some Coast Salish tribes as the tree their ancestors anchored their canoes to at the “place of refuge” during the myth of the great flood. Coast Salish people use it for food, medicine, and tools.
The tree ranges from southern California to British Columbia and has many different regional names including: madrone or madroño (typically used in Oregon or California), madrona (Washington), arbutus (British Columbia), and its many Coast Salish names.
Once you become aware of madrones, it’s hard not to realize how many are hiding in Tacoma’s urban landscape, anywhere there is a pocket of rocky soil or wherever there are Douglas firs growing.

To learn more about Michael’s role model tree, I met him and his dog at Swan Creek park on a cloudy day in late March. We were surrounded by madrones that I had never noticed. Michael calls the park, and every other area that has a denser population of madrones, Madroneland. In reality, it is not just these small pockets of urban forest, but the whole of our coastal area, that is Madroneland.
Michael got involved with madrone conservation and research when he began working as an ecologist for Seattle Parks and Recreation. An Urban Forester shared *The Decline of Pacific Madrone* with him, a book that published research on the recent decline of madrones. Later on, while developing guides for restoring urban forests, Michael and his colleagues realized that previous restoration strategies had been overutilizing specific native trees, such as Western redcedar. These trees, he says “are so incredible, but not appropriate to plant in all circumstances because we can really alter the composition of future forests when we plant a lot of just a few dominant species.”

Michael reached a threshold where he realized that without a thoughtful effort to support madrone populations in urban and restored forest spaces, the tree’s population would decline, both from disease and removal. If this were to happen, our forests would suffer a great loss in biodiversity, as the madrone is a critical part of Pacific Northwest ecosystems. Despite concerns around the species’ disease susceptibility and their capacity to survive in the sometimes harsh urban environment, Michael and his colleagues set to work.

In 2016, they were invited to a mini-conference titled “The Future of Pacific Madrone”, where they developed a list of ways to protect the species from further decline while incorporating it into urban forestry plans and community restoration projects. He has since become an expert and advocate for Pacific madrone preservation: “It just seemed like it needed some help. I’ve come to the realization that we are not going to save the species, it doesn’t need that from us, but I do think it requires, or deserves, more care.” As part of the project to support madrones, Michael and his colleagues run an online community and educational resource called the Arbutus ARME which connects people from a range of backgrounds all over the West Coast who are passionate about the Pacific madrone, and empowers them with tools such as TreeSnap to help track the tree’s changing range and health.

Madrone range. Source: Forest Inventory Analysis.

Over time, as Michael’s work and connection with the madrone has grown, he has come to see the tree as an important role model for how to connect and organize with others. “[The] madrone and TTF have taught me a lot about emergent strategy” Michael explained. Emergent strategy is a concept developed by writer and activist adrienne maree brown in her book also titled Emergent Strategy (2017). brown defines emergent strategy as “ways for humans to practice being in the right relationship to our home and each other, to practice complexity, and grow a compelling future together through relatively simple interactions.” Emergent strategy teaches that we can make intentional changes in our actions and behaviors towards a more just and sustainable future. The key to this ideal future is the restoration of our reciprocal relationship with nature–where nature is something that will care and provide for us if we do the same for it, contrary to the capitalist relationship that sees nature as a resource to be extracted without the responsibility to replenish it.

To achieve a revitalized connection with nature, brown proposes we model our behaviors and systems on those found in nature, by using practices known as biomimicry (the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems) and permaculture (a system of agricultural and social design principles centered around simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems.) She summarizes these practices of biomimicry and permaculture by offering some concrete and simple principles that can be followed. Michael has found a model for a few of these in the madrone:

Critical Connections

While walking through Madroneland we stop before a giant madrone to marvel. Michael tells me that: “one of its superpowers is it has this…mycorrhizal [my-cor-rye-zal] interaction underground. Mycorrhiza [my-cor-rye-za] are these fungi which have symbiotic relationships with root systems.” Michael sees the principle of critical connections–relationships that provide key resources or support to those engaged in the relationship–as modeled by the mycelium “threads” which make up mycorrhizal networks that connect trees. Mycorrhizae are critical for madrones. They live within the tree’s roots and provide access to resources that allow it to live and thrive in its native environment by helping to scavenge extra nutrients and moisture that the tree would not be able to obtain on its own. Mycorrhiza may also act as an immune system booster for the disease-susceptible madrone, as madrones with healthy mycorrhizal systems have a higher tolerance to pathogens. Mycorrhiza are the reason that madrones can thrive in relatively harsh conditions such as drought and rocky, nutrient-low, soils. In addition, madrones can rely on other native plants to successfully form the mycorrhizal connections, which might be why they are often found growing near Douglas firs, salal, and other native plants.

“Like we’re looking at the Douglas fir next to the madrone and they’re sharing resources underground and it’s invisible to us, right? And so I think of that in ways that social movements operate as well.” Organizations looking to make social and environmental change, like TTF and the Arbutus ARME, are often most successful in partnership with other organizations and individuals who share goals and will engage in critical connection. Michael shares that the structure of the Arbutus ARME was modeled on the relationship between madrones and the mycorrhiza. “At the Arbutus ARME, what I hope we are is this rangewide network of people [people acting as the mycorrhiza does] organizing for the tree and with the tree itself.”

At TTF, some critical connections include the City of Tacoma Urban Forestry Program and Tacoma Creates, and community organizations such as Blue Cactus Press and Hilltop Urban Gardens. We also have smaller critical connections with every person we interact with when tabling, giving presentations, or writing blog posts (you are engaging in a critical connection as you read this!). Similar to the madrone, the mycorrhiza, and the surrounding native plants; our organizations are only able to thrive in the harsh conditions of our changing world because we support and are supported by other individuals and organizations.

Small is All

This principle rests on the idea that small-scale efforts and actions mirror those at larger scales, and that any action has a ripple-out effect with the echoes of an action having a larger impact over time as it reaches more people. Michael connects this principle to our work at TTF: “so like with the Tacoma Tree Foundation, we want to plant all of Tacoma right? Or we want to be to like 40 or 60 percent tree canopy cover but right now we’re at 20 percent. And the more important thing is the day-to-day; door-knocking and talking to people about their real desires for security and happiness, and sometimes that involves planting a tree or getting in touch with their neighbors.”

Tree recipients and TTF staff and volunteers at a recent tree share held in partnership with Mi Centro. Photo: Julia Wolf.

These small-scale actions–such as planting an individual tree or having a single conversation–center around critical connections with our neighbors, which over time will open more and more opportunities to reach our ultimate goal of growing Tacoma’s tree canopy to a size that will provide protection and higher quality of life for everyone who lives in the area.

Hearing Michael talk about how big change is motivated by small action reminds me of the power of writing, which is something I do often. By sharing information with even a small group of people, there is potential for big change. This lesson is important for folks who struggle with climate anxiety. “Small is all'' is a reminder that even the smallest actions–small being relative to your individual overall financial, physical, mental, and social capabilities–contribute to the larger goal of creating social change, climate resiliency, or any other big change we hope to see in our world.

Photo: Young madrone, Swan Creek Park. Julia Wolf.

This model is not unlike that of a forest, or Michael’s mission to support the madrone species, where there is not one tree that makes the forest or that saves the species, but the many individual trees that make up a forest and which preserve a species.

Change is Constant

“Change is never ending,” Michael states. This may seem like an obvious point, but living in constant change requires us to embody adaptability, which can be understood as an expression of change by living it out in our own lives. This can look like having a growth mindset, creating plans and schedules that are flexible, or more tangible practices of adaptability like installing solar panels or finding ways to use less water.

The madrone is a model for adaptability; as our climate warms, the madrone’s range is shifting, and it too must adapt. Changes will also impact the overall health of the species as temperature extremes make the madrone more susceptible to disease and infections. The tree will have to develop a more robust immune system to survive. This is part of why human intervention in madrone preservation is so critical. Ecologists like Michael can assist tree gene flow: he helps identify individual trees that may be more climate resilient and plant them throughout the madrone’s range, including in urban settings. Part of the purpose of incorporating this tree into our urban forest system is to ensure both that we support the survival of the species and that we build diverse urban forests. By partnering with the madrone, we are developing a critical connection where we help each other adapt to our changing world.

Madroneland

Michael would love to see madrones planted in Tacoma streets. But, there are issues with planting madrones in urban spaces. He says: “I think it deserves a place in our landscape…[even though] you won't see it on [approved] street tree lists.” Most arborists advise against planting and growing madrones in city right-of-ways and private property due to concerns about the tree losing branches or falling due to its proneness to disease. “You’ve heard this word that arborists use–”failure”— which is when basically, branches fall off or whole trees fall down. So that term is thrown around so much and the more you repeat it, the more people think it’s true, despite the lack of research about it, or the lack of evidence of it, because a lot of things fall down all the time, and I don't think it falls down more regularly than other trees do.”

The main goal of the Arbutus ARME is to disrupt and amend harmful stereotypes about the tree, such as it being “prone to failure.” Michael says that “a lot of people think that this tree is sick and dying. You’ll see trees that have some brown…Like some just don’t look awesome. But they can live a long time sick.” Even though madrones are susceptible to disease and infection, and the urban forest is a “gritty environment,” as Michael puts it, despite challenges for growing healthy trees, it is still possible to create a healthy environment for madrones to thrive.

The tree’s susceptibility to disease is due in part to the tree’s need for consistency in its environment (soil nutrients, temperature, dampness, etc.) which is challenged by climate change and habitat loss. In addition, madrones have thin bark which peels annually, and that can be easily damaged. If compared to a cut in our skin, openings in the tree’s bark leave it susceptible to pathogens and harmful bacteria. Fungal infections and other diseases can be mitigated. The madrone contributes to the biodiversity of the urban landscape by producing flowers and berries that are a critical food source for urban native wildlife and pollinators.

He points out that the madrone “defies that dominant paradigm of straight up-and-down vertical. Unlike like Douglas fir, madrones “can be “a two-by-four if I want to’ sort of tree and it’s just wonky… I think we need that in our lives.” This is not to say that there is anything wrong with Douglas firs or any other species valued for lumber. Rather, he wants to highlight the need for species diversity in our urban spaces where it is easiest to plant columnar trees or those with more predictable growth and branching patterns. Inviting the madrone into our urban spaces is a step toward accepting change and practicing adaptability that will be necessary going forward.

Photo: Madrone berries.

Michael understands that as “things are ending… things are being revealed at the same time,” meaning that as we go forward into the future we learn more about how we will need to adapt, both in regards to issues on a large scale such as climate change, and smaller scale challenges we face daily as individuals. This is why our work at TTF is so impactful; tree planting is an action, based on the information we have now about the upcoming conditions of the future, which helps us adapt to that future. Tree planting, and caring for madrones, acknowledges, and in a way, celebrates, the need for change.

Looking Forward

For Michael, the Pacific madrone is a role model that “epitomize[s] resiliency. I gravitate to Arbutus [madrone] trees, because of the way they twist and turn towards the sun and grow in unlikely places.” Their “defiance is why I like them.” The lessons that the madrone teaches about connection and resiliency are found in its relationship with mycorrhiza and native plants, the way it makes small victories in surviving as a species, and the ways it is capable of adapting to climate change. By following these lessons and modeling our own behavior and actions of the ways of the madrone, we too can become more resilient and connected as a culture and to our environment.

Next time you are out and around the Puget Sound, use our Tree ID guide to connect with the madrones in your neighborhood, and to recognize the Madroneland that is our region.

In addition, consider using TreeSnap to participate in the Arbutus ARME’s citizen science project of mapping madrones and become part of the effort supporting madrone health and survival.

Supporting Madrone Health

Here are a few ways to support madrone health and help prevent fungal infections and disease:

Reducing the amount of compacted soils and polluted or nutrient-rich runoff around the tree’s root systems.

Planting in dry, well-draining soil.
Planting in a space where the tree will receive full sunlight.
Abstaining from fertilizing or overwatering.
Taking care to remove organic rotting material from around the tree (such as fallen leaves, as they can hold extra moisture where fungi can grow.)
Planting in a space with plenty of room for growth, away from buildings, fences, or power lines.
Planting other native plants, like salal, douglas fir, honeysuckles, and other washington natives near a madrone, or adding supplemental mycorrhiza to the soil.
Reducing use of lawn maintenance tools, at least near the trunk of the madrone, will lessen the threat of cutting or damaging the bark.

Resources

For more in-depth information about madrone preservation and ecology:

Michael’s webinar with TTF on our YouTube channel.
PowerPoints on the life and death of madrones in Pacific Northwest forests and diseases, pests, and emerging issues for the madrone.
Download and print TTF’s Pacific Madrone ID Guide below!

Trees of Significance: The Pacific Madrone as Role Model for Change and Resilience.