Ferns are dying in Kitsap forests, and nobody knows why
For the past three years, Program on the Environment lecturer Tim Billo has been monitoring the sword fern die-off in Seattle’s Seward Park. He’s not the only researcher to be stumped by the mysterious decline of this once abundant plant that covers the forest floors.
Despite copious research, nobody has yet found the reason for the rapid and alarming decline of this ubiquitous Northwest plant, which is now disappearing in the North Kitsap forests as well. This plant is not easy to kill, and its plight is attracting the interest of more researchers and naturalists.