[4] It is tolerant to salty spray common in coastal dune habitat, such as at Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington, and prefers soils high in magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus.

Sitka spruce woodland is also present in France and Denmark, and the plant was introduced to Iceland and Norway in the early 20th century.

[21] Sitka spruce provides critical habitat for a large variety of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.

However, in Alaska and British Columbia the needles of Picea sitchensis comprise up to 90% of the winter diet of blue grouse.

[13] Lichen-forming fungi Helocarpon lesdainii is found on Picea sitchensis trees in Harris Beach State Park, Oregon, USA.

[22] It provides cover and hiding places for a large variety of mammals, and good nesting and roosting habitat for birds.

[13] Due to the prevalence of Sitka spruce in cool, wet climates, its thin bark and shallow root system are not adapted to resist fire damage and it is thus very susceptible.

Sitka spruce recolonizes burned sites via wind-dispersed seed from adjacent unburned forests.

[13] The root bark of Sitka spruce trees is used in Native Alaskan basket-weaving designs[23] and for rain hats.

It is naturalized in some parts of Ireland and Great Britain, where it was introduced in 1831 by David Douglas,[24] and New Zealand, though not so extensively as to be considered invasive.

An estimated 50,000 hectares (120,000 acres) have been planted in Norway, mainly along the coast from Vest-Agder in the south to Troms in the north.

It is more tolerant to wind and saline ocean air, and grows faster than the native Norway spruce.

[28][29] The resonant wood[4] is used widely in piano, harp, violin, and guitar manufacture, as its high strength-to-weight ratio and regular, knot-free rings make it an excellent conductor of sound.

[33][34] In the Olympic National Forest in Washington, Sitka spruce trees near the ocean sometimes develop burls.

According to a guidebook entitled Olympic Peninsula, "Damage to the tip or the bud of a Sitka spruce causes the growth cells to divide more rapidly than normal to form this swelling or burl.