Pages

Saturday, June 19, 2021

So: What About Those Trees on the South Park Blocks?

 


Any discussion about the proposed master plan for Portland’s South Park Blocks settles to a single issue: How many of the 325 trees on the 12 blocks will or will not be lost? .

 What makes the topic difficult is the clear contradiction between verbiage in the South Parks Blocks Master Plan and what the plan’s own charts demonstrate.  One independent effort to determine how many trees are at risk came up with a total of 86, but acknowledged that parts of the plan are difficult to interpret. 

 For starters, look at a document provided by an arborist who consulted on the plan for the city.  This is the same consultant who reported in 2019 that 97 percent of the parks trees are healthy. The report suggests 26 trees for removal and another 65 for “optional removal.”

 

The next chart shows characteristic tree spacing in the Cultural District, the six northern blocks.  All of these blocks would be included in the proposed Green Loop for bicycles and scooters.  The chart shows a reduction per block from 42 to 27 trees, including the large row of elms adjacent to the bike paths.  Those elms apparently would be replaced with smaller trees. 

 

 

The “tree succession plan” in the Cultural District, shown below,  makes it clear the long-term consequence: The central row of the five current rows is eliminated, and only two of the five would remain as they are recognized today.  These charts are included because some of my readers last week insisted no trees would be removed. 

 

These charts make it difficult to accept the written report that says “no healthy trees” would be removed.

 It is interesting to note that in 2005, the Parks Bureau issued a publication titled, “South Park Blocks: Benefits of Trees.”  Jerry Poracsky, a PSU geography professor, wrote, in part, “The most prominent feature of the area is the trees…the predominant trees of the South Park Blocks are American elms and it is these large, graceful sentinels that do most to create the special character of the area…

 “Like a rough-hewn colonnade, five rows of trees stretch the length of the twelve blocks, creating a high canopy that shelters the grass, walkways, and benches below. From the center, looking either to the north or south between any two rows of trees, you have a vista down a long, green, arched tunnel narrowing into an indistinct vanishing point blocks away.”

“The aesthetic value is hard to measure…What price can you put on the experience of sitting in the South Park Blocks on a warm summer afternoon, gazing down long rows of majestic American elms? The feelings of relaxation and enjoyment one experiences in such a beautiful, treed urban green space just cannot be duplicated.”

 But they CAN be seriously impaired.

-----Fred Leeson

If you would like to join Building on History's mailing list, write "Add me" to fredleeson@hotmail.com


9 comments:

  1. Thank you for your continued pursuit of this story. Interesting that the same consultant had earlier determined that 97 percent of the trees were healthy. Looking at the much larger picture, however (and we are discussing this within our own neighborhood association considering a $5-million-plus plan by PBOT), you would think the city would have larger priorities to address (increase in shootings, homelessness, etc.) rather than fixing what ain't broke—at great cost to city coffers, and—here—the environment.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for this deep dive into the plan. I would like to highlight that all through the development of this plan through 2020 PP&R continued to promulgate the myth that the trees are dead and dying and reaching the end of their lifespan. This was stated in the FAQ on the PP&R website and in all of their public and institutional outreach. As evidence this false idea is embedded in the letter of support for the plan from the Portland Park's Bureau. A plan based on a grossly inaccurate premise can hardly be the basis for a major overhaul of such a beloved park.
    A plan is needed that prioritizes preservation of the existing canopy as key to climate change resilience in accordance with the City's own 2035 Comprehensive Plan. Such a plan would highlight appropriate maintenance for the exiting trees and fund the essential pruning recommended for a third of the trees by the consulting arborist. There is something hidden in plain view in the plan that is quite alarming. When you look at each block and each tree and the symbols used for existing trees and new trees and you compare the placement of the trees and the tree types the symbols represent there is a shocking discovery. All but 1 of the existing trees in the park will be gone and replaced by new trees when the plan is complete.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If this issue is of concern to you consider writing to the city Commissioners.
    mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov
    Comm.Rubio@portlandoregon.gov
    MappsOffice@portlandoregon.gov
    CommissionerRyanOffice@portlandoregon.gov
     joann@portlandoregon.gov

    Please cc:
    cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov

    Letters sent to this address with the heading "South Park Blocks Master Plan" in the heading will be entered as written testimony for the July 7th, 2 PM city council hearing

     
    You can sign up to give oral testimony from Friday to Tuesday at 4 PM before the council meeting at this site

    sitehttps://www.portlandoregon.gov/auditor/26997

    ReplyDelete
  4. I appreciate you bringing factual clarity to what has appeared to be a degenerating public discussion of the proposed "South Park Blocks Master Plan". Thank you, Fred.

    ReplyDelete
  5. South Park Blocks is an historic area. Those blocks, and the trees are sacred. DON'T TOUCH THEM! There's noting that needs to change about them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Here's another way to think about this. This is a clear white middle class plan--build bike paths to make it easier for mostly white office workers to navigate these streets. But what about all the low income people who live in the run down hotels in the area who will be deprived of a calming natural setting (None of them hve cars to go to the beach or the mountains). Portland has been putting in more apartments, etc downtown. Research shows we all need nature immersions frequently for good mental health...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Every time a healthy mature tree is cut down, we lose its CO2-absorbtion. How long before the baby tree that replaces it will grow to the level of CO2 removal of the tree that was cut down? How much will the loss of these trees set back the City's emission reduction goals?
    If Portland is serious about curbing climate change, then it needs to consider the CO2 impacts of demolition - whether it be of trees or of usable buildings.
    -Peggy Moretti

    ReplyDelete
  8. Trees are racist. They breed amongst their own species and block the sunlight from competitors. They hoard all the habitat that need trees to survive (birds, squirrels, insects, fungus) for themselves. They also prevent the developers from making a killing by not letting them destroy perfectly good infrastructure and infilling everything possible.

    ReplyDelete