Isn't it time for an old fashion "save the dying tree" protest in this city?

If it doesn't hug back, well you're okay

Contra Costa Times/Environment/Daily News/Rhea Mahbubani, 9/18/14. "Man who chained himself to a 50-foot tree in Menlo Park couldn't save it from being cut down."

"A Menlo Park resident who chained himself to a tree in Fremont Park on Tuesday morning couldn't stop it from being cut down. He and a handful of protesters contended the 50-foot Italian stone pine near the intersection of Santa Cruz Avenue and University Drive is a historical part of the city, Menlo Park police spokeswoman Nicole Acker said." 

....  But when our arborists went out later that day and checked the tree, it had fallen another inch within a five-hour period," Quirion said. "The rate at which the tree was falling was rapidly increasing so we made the decision to stop the 15-day noticing period and remove the tree because it was an immediate safety concern."  Read article.

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Duh, the rotting tree hasn't collapsed yet

The Daily Journal/Angela Swartz, 9/20/14. "Woman sits in tree to protest cutting:  Redwood City says oak tree is dying and poses a public threat." 

....  Redwood City teacher Gwen Minor began sitting in a large tree on the corner of Alameda de las Pulgas and Goodwin Avenue in the Woodside Plaza neighborhood 5 a.m. Friday. The city has monitored the tree for some time and it is dying because it is suffering from an advanced Armillaria infection, which has caused failure at the root crown and the root plate, and destruction of the buttress roots along the trunk’s entire circumference, said city spokesman Malcolm Smith.  

....  "Our consulting arborist deems the entire tree at ‘overall extreme risk’ of ‘imminent’ failure — meaning large branches or sections of trunk (or the entire tree) could break apart and fall,” Smith wrote in an email. “Cars and pedestrians in the area are at risk when this kind of tree failure occurs. … The city has spent several years trying to maintain the tree and to find ways to not only keep it, but to keep it viable. However, it’s abundantly clear from the arborist’s report that the tree is not structurally sound and is in danger of falling over or breaking apart. Because of its size and proximity to the street and to pedestrians, this tree poses a public safety hazard that we do not believe can reasonably be solved, short of removal.”   Read article.

Note unrelated to articles photographs:  hug a tree from  Ello organization. Camping out in Berkley, CA oak tree by Frederic Larson from San Francisco Chronicle.

Posted by Kathy Meeh