On a cold and rainy Saturday morning at Naval Radio Station (T) Jim Creek, the normal serene silence was interrupted by the sounds of falling trees.

With a creak, a pop, and a whoosh, alder tree after alder tree was taken down with such feverish enthusiasm that you’d have thought a bunch of kids were in charge of this operation.

Bingo.

Boy Scout Troop 80 spent the weekend impersonating lumberjacks as they methodically partook in the removal of deciduous trees from a Jim Creek coniferous growth area.

The project was organized and led by one of Troop 80’s own: Sean Mobley, a 15-year-old sophomore at Ingraham High School in Seattle.

As part of his quest to become an Eagle Scout, Mobley had to create a service project that he’d be in charge of from start to finish. 

“It’s an independent project that he has to plan, coordinate, and execute,” said Doug Johnson, Troop 80 scoutmaster. “This is his last big responsibility before the board.”

“To finally become an eagle scout, I have to complete the Eagle Board of Review which is basically an inquisition,” Mobley smiled. “I have to go in front of a board and they ask me about scout skills, my character, and leadership.”

However, on this blustery and quite miserable day, warm, dry boardrooms were a luxury Mobley refused to think about.

As he stepped out from the heavy coniferous growth with glasses steamed and blue parka covered in pine needles, Mobley surveyed his fellow scouts working enthusiastically to remove unwanted trees from the area. 

With him, he carried an aura, not of a teenager, but rather that of a young man in charge.

“This is the Jim Creek timber stand improvement project,” Mobley said while holding a very sizeable axe. “This coniferous tree area was planted 20 years ago, but recently deciduous trees have invaded the area and are cutting off life for the coniferous trees.”

For the uninitiated, coniferous trees have pine needles while deciduous trees have leaves. 

The pine trees play an important part in Jim Creek’s Coho Salmon habitat restoration program, says Walter Briggs, Navy Region Northwest’s forester who helped plan the project with Mobley.

“Starting 19 years ago, we began planting coniferous trees in the valley in order to provide shade on the watercourses to reduce water temperature so rearing salmon would become accustomed to living in that environment,” said Briggs. “Therefore, when salmon depart the little water courses here and head out to the big rivers, they’ll be inclined to head toward the brushy shores, which protects them from predators.”

Thus the purpose of Mobley’s project was to ensure the salmon remained shaded by removing the alder trees that threatened to overrun the Douglas fir, Spruce, Cedar, and Pine trees intended for that area. 

Using everything from axes to machetes, these scouts came prepared.

“I have about 25 people and I’ve broken them up into roughly four groups of six people,” Mobley said. “The younger scouts are taking care of the smaller trees and the older ones are working on the big trees.”

The weekend project took a great deal of planning.  Mobley spent weeks organizing this project and had made earlier trips to Jim Creek so he and Briggs could examine what needed to get accomplished.

“I came out here a couple times and met with Mr. Briggs and the officer in charge of Jim Creek,” said Mobley. “I was very fortunate because Mr. Briggs was very enthusiastic about this whole thing. We came up the week before and marked the trees and got to know the area better.”

Each tree slated for removal was marked with a swab of blue paint.

“The project is a win-win-win situation,” said Briggs. “The Navy gets the work done, the scouts get their project and the salmon benefit.”

By Sunday afternoon, the scouts had chopped their way through hundreds of trees and Mobley had successfully managed and led his peers through two-days of grueling, yet rewarding work.

“It’s cold and rainy out here but the job still got done,” said Mobley. “We were well layered and that’s all you can do.”

And as every good Boy Scout knows, it’s all in the preparation.