I cannot be trimmed? It’s all or nothing? This is just too sad how disposable nature is treated by people. There’s so much to be saddened about in this world, why not have this be a heartwarming story about the community coming together to keep this tree living while making sure there are no safety concerns? It seems too black or white and too little critical thought by our mayor. Tragic.
This has been quite controversial. Independent arborists have said that the tree DID NOT need to come down. Public sentiment is to keep the tree. Trees lose limbs in storms all the time and we don't cut down all the trees by roads--we just clean them up after storms. The mayor is acting unilaterally to remove this tree and obviously bowing to special interests. Almost certainly the mayor's reason for removing the tree is to enable expansion of the Olympia Airport.
The real reason this tree is coming down is to enable expansion of the Olympia Airport. Get ready for the big jets. Safety is BS; the mayor is bowing to special interests one more time again. The following was written by a long-time watcher of the Port of Olympia which owns the airport and the Olympia Airport citing that person's rationale for concluding that the real reason is airport expansion: There are lots of trees in Thurston County. Many are located adjacent to roads. During storms tree limbs fall. Henderson Blvd through Watershed Park is often covered with tree limbs - many very large - after storms. The limbs are gathered up and hauled away when the storms are over. Rarely are the trees from which the limbs fell cut down. Several years ago a huge section of a very old tree near my home fell during a storm. The fallen limbs were later removed. The tree still stands. So - why has the Meeker Oak been singled out for destruction? Is liability due to a fallen limb from that tree any greater than liability from countless other trees near roadways in Thurston County? Some may find it far-fetched to think that the plan to cut down the Meeker Oak is associated with plans for growth of infrastructure and operations at the Olympia Airport. Having spent significant time over several decades reviewing many thousands of pages of Olympia Airport planning documents -- I believe it's far-fetched to NOT think that the proposal to cut down the Meeker Oak is associated with plans for expansion of operations at the Olympia Airport. Over the years I've seen many documents that have identified both the historical hanger near Hwy 99 (occupied by the Washington State Patrol) and the nearby historical oak tree as "obstructions" that, among other things, limit time that the main airport runway is available for Instrument Landing approaches from the north. The Meeker Oak isn't the only airport-expansion-limiting thing that have been at the forefront lately. Federally listed species that have always inhabited airport land have also been hindering plans for airport growth. As most know by now, a plan (HCP) is being designed to deal with that 'problem'. (Never mind that the plan will legalize killing, maiming of many of those creatures and relocation of others to lands with soil conditions less favored by those creatures). And then there's the Capitol Little League lease issue. That lease will soon be a thing of the past. Because that land has been earmarked for future commercial (passenger and cargo) aviation development. All of this is happening at a time when: the governor has called for consideration of expansion of general aviation airports in Western Washington to help accommodate projected future SeaTac overflow of 400,000 annual operations; a (recently disbanded) Commission Identified the Olympia Airport as capable of handling both passenger and cargo aircraft; a Master Plan Update for the Olympia Airport is being prepared. The plan will include a Commercial Aviation Feasibility Study as well as plans for a new Commercial Aviation passenger terminal, a deicing facility, 400 parking spaces and room for more, and future fire station on airport property (required for airport that provide commercial air service on aircraft 30 passengers or more) Does anyone think that it's just coincidence that all of these things are occurring simultaneously? (I, for one, do not)
