Tree Stewardship Class

The first Tree Stewardship class was held last night - and thanks to my husband David Taylor and Allen Wheeland for joining me in this adventure! It was a fascinating evening - and the next four classes are going to be very interesting as well. I thought I'd share with you my initial thoughts after this class.

There are a lot of city bureaus dealing with the issues of ecology and specifically trees. They are trying hard to get along and work together, with varying results. I think what we've witnessed is this disharmony of bureaus with differing raison d'etres working it out in front of us. Thank God Parks is winning!

The tree experts in this town are many and varied. In this class, I think we will meet most of them.

Intuitively I knew that trees are important to our ecology and our public health (both physical and mental) but I had no idea how important they are to all the infrastructure of our environment. More later about this.

I now know why diversity of species are important - we all get that since our elms are coming down. This class got a little deeper into that question and made clear that the City will never plant like they have in the past, putting one species in a row down a boulevard or median strip.

As I came back down Omaha from my walk with my dog this morning and saw the remaining elms standing in their gigantic rows, I started to cry. I love these elm trees, whether they should have been planted like this or not. The fact is that they are lovely and graceful parts of our landscape. And the bad news is that eventually they will all be gone in a few more years, whether we like it or not.

The good news, of course, is that the City will replant trees here. I want to make sure that they're big trees going in - not some puny imposters that will not provide the canopy that the elms have provided us. I think Karl Dawson gets that and so is suggesting the obvious ones that will grow and expand out - the oaks and the maples, as well as some evergreen if we want it (but nobody, not even me wants that right now). This is good. Big trees are important to our landscape (and little ones have their place, too).

It's true!

We've confirmed it: The City will plant trees back on Omaha Street!

From our neighbor Erika:

I spoke with Karl Dawson from Urban Forestry this morning. He said UF will
plant 6 trees in a volunteer neighborhood planting on Halloween from 9-11am. As
many neighbors as possible should join in the planting. The neighborhood then
needs to set up a watering schedule for 3 years for the summers (May-June) after
the planting. UF can provide hoses or irrigation if needed. He said the city's
sprinkler system would not provide the direct watering the trees need.

Maybe we should have another neighborhood meeting to decide the types of
trees and a watering schedule. Our tree choices are: Oregon White Oak,
Northern Red Oak, Big Leaf Maple or Evergreens. Karl said he will purchase the
trees around Oct 24th for the Oct 31st planting.

...but let's not weaken...

It is more important than ever that we take a greater interest in our trees and park space in front of our homes, especially given the invasive nature of Dutch Elm disease (or as my friend Emily calls it "Restless Elm Syndrome") To that end I've decided to take the Tree Stewardship class that the City of Portland puts on. I received the class syllabus today and am extending an invitation to all of you to join me in this class - you can register at the door!

The Class times are: 9/29 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm; 10/3 8:30 am-2:00 pm; 10/6 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm; 10/10 8:30 am-2:00 pm and 10/17 8:30 am - 2:00 pm.

It is likely that more of these trees will have to come down and that we will be advocating for their replacement in an ongoing way. So, let's get educated about trees, their care and how best to advocate for them.

Stop the Presses!

Our neighbor Dan Netter saw City people walking around in the Omaha Street park this afternoon. Dan took an opportunity to talk with them. Dan reports the following: The City Parks guru Karl Dawson was here to look at the crater where the trees were taken out of the park-and he told Dan that the City WILL replace the trees! He said that he wants us to pick out trees to replant from a list of different species that they've put together.

If this is true (and we hope it is!) this means that the City will replant the trees! This is great news (if true) and we can expect trees to be planted evidently in December. Several people have contacted his office and we will wait to see if he confirms this news. Stay tuned....

Contacts

As promised, Julia has put together her list of people she has contacted in the City regarding the North Omaha street trees.

We're Getting Heard!

North Portland neighbors have heard our pleas for help! Several good people have asked me "What can I do to help?"



Neighbors: Your participation is crucial to our success getting our trees replanted. Matt McVee is busy putting together lawn signs to put in our yards up and down Omaha Street - can you help him put together these signs and/or get these yard signs placed? Will you take responsibility for your houses on your block of Omaha to alert neighbors to this problem? Let Matt know by either leaving a comment on this blog or by sending him an email at OmahaTrees@gmail.com. Thanks neighbors! You're the greatest!

Julia's Emails

Neighbors have done a great job zeroing in on who is responsible at the City of Portland for our trees on Omaha Street. As we discovered last week, the median strip is no longer maintained by the Parks Department, but by the Portland Department of Transportation's Bureau of Maintenance (BOM).

Here's the link for reading Julia's emails with the City of Portland about our North Omaha Street trees.

Neighbors Resolved

One of the things we love about living on Omaha Street is the canopy of tall, deciduous trees which offer shade to our yards in the heat of the summers and wind breaks in the cold of winter.

Years ago, when my husband David hurt his back and couldn't move often or without great pain, he reported to me that relief came in the form of placing himself near a window to watch those great elms sprout and grow leaves, and watch the nest-building activity of the wildlife in the branches. These aren't just trees that are disposable; while disease may bring down the old ones, it's important to plant new ones.

At our neighborhood meeting yesterday, where about 35 people attended, we agreed to the following principles:

1. We want to replant the missing trees.

2. We will do what it takes to buy and plant the trees ourselves even if the City can't afford them.

3. We will care for the trees in their early years, with an agreement with the City until the City can afford their care again.

Beyond these rather short-term goals, we also want to make clear to the City that the Omaha Street median isn't just a median strip, like a strip mall or strip parking or the other ugly forms of that word. The Omaha Street elms are part of a natural park system in North Portland. It's labeled as a park in nearly every guide available online, and people use it as a park for daily activities like walking their dogs or playing games or simply enjoying a nice day of sunshine. Our parkway is a destination for the citizens of Portland.

If you want to be part of our group, or would like more information about the group and our intentions, please send us an email at OmahaTrees@gmail.com .

Omaha Tree Meeting

Thanks to everyone who came to my house this morning for the neighborhood meeting about our Omaha trees! Of course it rained! But we made it through and I think we have a good agenda with which to move forward. (Julia, Rich, Erika and the rest of us will be very busy this winter!) I will post more in the next few hours. Check back often!

We will change this picture below to something more aesthetically pleasing! We can do it!

Devastation

Our beautiful boulevard has Dutch Elm Disease. They have taken out five trees in the last week and it just uglifies the landscape around here. What hurts the most is that the city didn't notify any of us that this was about to happen.

We're forming a neighborhood group to figure out what to do next. The City says it doesn't have the funds to plant trees back, but I can't imagine this place without trees. At the most cynical, our property values have just dropped a good $50k a piece.