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'm for reforestation and a robust science based department of biodiversity in our city that helps people learn how to care for wild plants and animals. Round up is still an over the counter poison that we think nothing of using. As with so many of our plant and animal cousins we think nothing of them at all. What if we tried non harm for a few decades to make amends for cutting down everything in sight?
I'm also against class warfare and see some of the pro tree people saying they love trees as a way of keeping THOSE people out of OUR neighborhood.
The climate changing fast is also changing what trees survive here. Maples are dying out, northern California trees will have to be planted here as they normally would take thousands of years to migrate north.
I'm daydreaming about turning Aurora Ave between Green Lake and Seattle Center into a car free park with social housing, transit bike paths to help handle growth from climate migration and abolish homelessness.
In researching trees with potential for the strip for this section of Aurora, my friend and plant genius Arthur Lee Jacobson said we need to plant trees that grow food and are drought resistant as water even here will become more precious.
So my Seattle Highline style Park idea is now percolating into a food forest.
My friend Mike Lee graduated from UW landscape design with a reforestation design for the street that connects Pioneer Square to Seward Park. ( Mike drew all my tree posters and helped me start Good Nature publishing in 95.)
So perhaps we could reforest Aurora to Seattle Center and Myrtle Edwards Park, then plant trees, vines and urban farms down 1st or 2nd to Pioneer Square linking downtown to Seward Park?
Maybe there are other ideas that could help us grow a muscle to go outside, leave our screens at home and imagine a great city full of trees, abundant housing, food and enough?
I don't know. But it's fun to think about looking for ways to challenge the myth of scarcity, plant trees that will mature long after we're gone.
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.
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'm friends with several trees in Seattle.
I'm for reforestation and a robust science based department of biodiversity in our city that helps people learn how to care for wild plants and animals. Round up is still an over the counter poison that we think nothing of using. As with so many of our plant and animal cousins we think nothing of them at all. What if we tried non harm for a few decades to make amends for cutting down everything in sight?
I'm also against class warfare and see some of the pro tree people saying they love trees as a way of keeping THOSE people out of OUR neighborhood.
The climate changing fast is also changing what trees survive here. Maples are dying out, northern California trees will have to be planted here as they normally would take thousands of years to migrate north.
I'm daydreaming about turning Aurora Ave between Green Lake and Seattle Center into a car free park with social housing, transit bike paths to help handle growth from climate migration and abolish homelessness.
In researching trees with potential for the strip for this section of Aurora, my friend and plant genius Arthur Lee Jacobson said we need to plant trees that grow food and are drought resistant as water even here will become more precious.
So my Seattle Highline style Park idea is now percolating into a food forest.
My friend Mike Lee graduated from UW landscape design with a reforestation design for the street that connects Pioneer Square to Seward Park. ( Mike drew all my tree posters and helped me start Good Nature publishing in 95.)
So perhaps we could reforest Aurora to Seattle Center and Myrtle Edwards Park, then plant trees, vines and urban farms down 1st or 2nd to Pioneer Square linking downtown to Seward Park?
Maybe there are other ideas that could help us grow a muscle to go outside, leave our screens at home and imagine a great city full of trees, abundant housing, food and enough?
I don't know. But it's fun to think about looking for ways to challenge the myth of scarcity, plant trees that will mature long after we're gone.
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.
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.