Majestic, towering trees, however beautiful, can be unwelcome when obscuring even more majestic vantage points.

Several trees along pullouts on Fidalgo Island are slated for removal, as the trees have disrupted the “historic viewshed” at Deception Pass State Park.

Ted Smith, Washington State Parks Northwest Region stewardship manager, will lead a discussion about restoring the viewshed during a presentation at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 15 at Cornet Bay Retreat Center.

Eighty years ago, when the Deception Pass area first became a park, views from the bridge area were grandly unobstructed. With the bridge and highway construction, the natural environment was altered and seed beds were created for trees to grow. Since then, individual trees have grown along the highway, obstructing views created by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

“The whole point is to try to restore what CCC created there,” Smith said.

Although the exact number of trees involved has not been calculated, Smith said there are four areas of concern, including the pullout closest to the Canoe Pass Bridge where several trees have blocked the views.

“People come to view Deception Pass and they find themselves looking at trees,” Smith said.

During next Thursday’s presentation, the stewardship manager will show the changes that have taken place and present options for restoring the viewshed.

No timeline for clearing the carefully selected trees has been established, Smith added. The parks department is seeking a contractor willing to carry out cutting on the precarious slopes where some of the trees reside.

“We also need to figure out what to do with the trees once they’re cut,” Smith said.

Leaving the trees would be counterproductive — allowing them to produce more trees in the future — as well as a fire hazard.

“We’re planning to clear the trees on the top first and then see where we need to go from there,” he said.