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condemned ,''` t, l+ .� , j4: / a �� 1
<br /> t�fi St/ l�yly� tr. ,' ,11.,'..--,-3�r l4, (.t4r.
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<br /> •haspeople - ,r ,f, rt t,' t: 1t�' /r,r V l'' nr .(iti it f 0 1 ; }/., f�1 f L ,4:, -,,w6;, -,,,,:,
<br /> Vit' yya h.c
<br /> . �Arr, t,i' ?_e i rt' i J r ti a `'t°e aFti ,,0 �.
<br /> ,• •• t :‘,.,_,„:4.„%, ,q;/?_e
<br /> fr •,,),,,Ir ,limit vat fi f "
<br /> u in limbs t�, �� , ,-,''',=-;:e,-',',..-
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<br /> By ANNE WILLIAMS 3/1 1119 �,,�,,� ,�,
<br /> The Register-Guard d,, ; i • t 44 ff 1 r °G,Vi0 i 4; I .
<br /> It dominates the riverfront near . .':t, , ' %.' 41 .!lib:,s eg ,t,;f c x+'"(r r
<br /> the Owen Memorial Rose Garden, a t ft r ?` <'' t { k41J ;Y r1li,t+F,c •'
<br /> stately big-leaf maple whose branch ,9,..f.,..:,:...:I. 4,' t _. �-ff t,„,k�y,, �'� 'c�A7, ' t N '
<br /> es stretch skyward from three thick , , , •; ,trr: `;ret ,,-trl} ; 4•-
<br /> main limbs joined at a massive ,` . / /' ', ,:-.•.L.,' /:I} ,f3;`', t 'll
<br /> trunk.
<br /> McCarthy noticed it right +;i t`, ' : 2y -i.N14� ,:if/`�.` ;ill 1 {' t.
<br /> Mike
<br /> away when he moved to Eugene ,' , r ',� I ;, ,, ) rA�`�",- J Xf s?" '
<br /> almost 30 years ago. Now he's living '` 1 s�� f -& /,;: ' `� .
<br /> in it. NICOLE DeVITO/The Register-Guard
<br /> "I want more big-leaf maples — "Otter"is one of a group of activists who are staying up in an 80-year-
<br /> it's a character tree of Eugene," the old maple tree the city says is dangerous and must be cut down.
<br /> veteran activist said Thursday, giv-
<br /> ing a moss-covered limb a gentle tree Wednesday, saying it posed an found pervasive decay in the tree's
<br /> knock from his perch in a low immediate threat to those passing base. A consulting arborist warned
<br /> crotch. "This is the nicest tree in on the pedestrian path beneath it that the 75-foot tree could lose a
<br /> the area." and that it would be cut down main limb or topple at any moment.
<br /> But city officials contend that Thursday. "(The arborist) was just aghast,
<br /> the big-leaf maple, believed to be A large crack, first noticed a and very concerned," said Mark
<br /> about 80 years old, must go. year ago,has widened,and a second
<br /> The city posted a notice on the has appeared, and tests this week Turn to MAPLE,Page 6B
<br /> • 1,. .. .r.. 0.:**),
<br /> a'
<br /> Snyder, the city's.new urban forest-
<br /> er. "He said, 'Get this bike path ,"(The arborist) was just aghast, and very
<br /> closed right away.' " concerned. He said, 'Get this bike path closed
<br /> But by 10 a.m. Thursday, pro-
<br /> testers were beginning to climb the right away.' "
<br /> tree, ignoring barricades, construc-
<br /> tion tape and warning signs closing MARK SNYDER
<br /> off the area. Eugene urban forester a •
<br /> - - By afternoon, four of them — usismamizu
<br /> McCarthy, 44; Robin True, 28;
<br /> "Smyrf," 22; and "Otter," 31 — sat do anything, sneaky," he assured Ensuring Survival of Trees.
<br /> attached to ropes amid the maple's one concerned activist at the site. The ill will stems from several
<br /> bare branches while a crowd of sup- McCarthy said neither he nor tree-cutting controversies, the bit-
<br /> porters milled about below. . any of the other protesters intend terest being a June 1, 1997, clash
<br /> Because of the protest, and be- to come down. Supporters are send- between police and activists protest-
<br /> cause city tree crews were still ing food, water, blankets and extra ing the felling of 40 trees for a
<br /> busy cleaning up from the recent clothes up by rope, and the tree- downtown development.
<br /> • windstorm, the felling was post- sitters say they're used to living Cater said the city was wrong to
<br /> poned, officials said. under such conditions. post signs saying the big-leaf maple
<br /> Snyder does not believe that ca- It is the first tree McCarthy has would come down immediately, and
<br /> bles or supporting posts — Inca- climbed in protest since he was was relieved to hear that there will
<br /> sures used to save a historic cherry badly injured in a 40-foot fall from a be time for public comment.
<br /> tree in the nearby rose garden — cedar near the Fifth Street Public
<br /> could adequately lessen the•risk of Market last summer. His hands and "We feel like we have to act first •
<br /> the big-leaf maple or its limbs fall- arms are still a little weak, he said, to save the tree, and then try to
<br /> ing on the path. "but my back and legs are just as figure it out," said Cater, who
<br /> Nonetheless, he said he wants to strong as they ever were." hopes that, if the tree must be re-
<br /> sit down and talk with members of Shelley Cater, one of the pro- moved, the city will replace it with
<br /> the Eugene Tree Foundation, local testers on the ground, said there's a a mature shade tree rather than a
<br /> arborists and anyone else who may lot of mistrust of the city among spindly"lollipop."
<br /> have concerns or suggestions before activists in the Whiteaker area, "We have reasons to believe (the
<br /> anything is done. who last summer formed a group city) doesn't always know what's
<br /> "We're not going to move in and called Whiteaker Residents best for the trees," she said.
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