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the County. It is certain that that storm will be repeated within <br /> the lifespan of those Douglas firs on Willamette. If this happens <br /> in an open space like a park or school ground the damage will be <br /> limited, but on a public street in the downtown area in which <br /> people, cars, and business structures are tightly focussed <br /> there will be a disaster of an completely different order. Also <br /> the regulations on pruning on most of the lower branches at eye <br /> level forces a mutilation which distorts any intended impression of <br /> the Douglas fir's beauty when grown in an open space site. <br /> The Incense cedar Calocedrus decurrens and the Ponderosa pine <br /> are the two remaining items on the ETF's list. Both are handsome <br /> specimens, easily grown, and have no known faults for street tree <br /> use. They both tower to nearly 100 feet and spread out to a <br /> maximum of 20 feet in width. They also may be hard to find in the <br /> nurseries. <br /> Most of the trees on the list are not suitable for their <br /> purpose on the proposed site, and there are very few more natives <br /> that could substitute there- - certainly not enough for a more <br /> extensive program. <br /> Is ETF's promoting of native trees in the streets of downtown <br /> Eugene a matter of ecological concerns? If so, who can point to <br /> any endangered native tree species that need protection on our city <br /> streets? Is there any danger that Eugene's approved street tree <br /> list will ever include species that would threaten to invade the <br /> native flora? No, it is difficult to see the relevance of this <br />