Seattle has long feasted on its trees, cutting down its forest to fuel its economy. Seeing the money through the trees began with the first boat of settlers, The Exact. Less than a month after the Denny Party arrived at Alki Point in November 1851, they were cutting trees to ship to San Francisco. The men worked thirteen full days, from sunrise to sunset, plus another six half days, and by January had cut 256 pilings, each about fifty feet long.
I have a mix experience with Seattle and trees. A few years ago my neighbor and I hired a tree company to cut down a Douglas fir that is on our shared border. This tree during a wind storm is scary and would easily take out several of our out-buildings and even my house if the wind is blowing more westerly. It even has a damaged top from the winds off the sound.
My tree guy submitted for a permit. We paid 350 bucks for it. DENIED!!!
What galls me is in the hood we have developers and other new house projects. They have cleared the property of all trees. The city approved that. Why is my house less important than a new one.
Anyway.. that is my rant about their tree policies. A bunch of hypocrites for sure.
Hi David, thank you for this important post. I recently submitted an op-ed to the South Seattle Emerald on this topic, and hope that our stories can inspire more people to share their positive urban tree experiences in a show of solidarity for our urban canopy and all that it does for us. It would be awesome to help Seattle's City Council understand that they aren't doing the future any favors with the current Ordinance https://southseattleemerald.com/2023/06/24/opinion-seattles-tree-ordinance-is-an-affront-to-climate-justice/
Thanks for taking the plunge into politics. This is certainly the right topic, and when I saw that you were putting your skin in the game I got around to writing the council (using talking points from Don't Clearcut Seattle folks).
One point of order. "Their branches and leaves covered 28.1% of the city’s land in 2021, down from 28.6% in 2016". (Down to 28.1%, not down 28.1%.)
I have a mix experience with Seattle and trees. A few years ago my neighbor and I hired a tree company to cut down a Douglas fir that is on our shared border. This tree during a wind storm is scary and would easily take out several of our out-buildings and even my house if the wind is blowing more westerly. It even has a damaged top from the winds off the sound.
My tree guy submitted for a permit. We paid 350 bucks for it. DENIED!!!
What galls me is in the hood we have developers and other new house projects. They have cleared the property of all trees. The city approved that. Why is my house less important than a new one.
Anyway.. that is my rant about their tree policies. A bunch of hypocrites for sure.
Hi David, thank you for this important post. I recently submitted an op-ed to the South Seattle Emerald on this topic, and hope that our stories can inspire more people to share their positive urban tree experiences in a show of solidarity for our urban canopy and all that it does for us. It would be awesome to help Seattle's City Council understand that they aren't doing the future any favors with the current Ordinance https://southseattleemerald.com/2023/06/24/opinion-seattles-tree-ordinance-is-an-affront-to-climate-justice/
Thanks for taking the plunge into politics. This is certainly the right topic, and when I saw that you were putting your skin in the game I got around to writing the council (using talking points from Don't Clearcut Seattle folks).
One point of order. "Their branches and leaves covered 28.1% of the city’s land in 2021, down from 28.6% in 2016". (Down to 28.1%, not down 28.1%.)
Once again - an excellent story! This is an amazingly beautiful part of the country. Let's keep it that way through education and preservation.