subject: Tree surgeon fights against felling plans [print this page] Tree surgeon fights against felling plans
Tree surgeons perform a variety of roles, including the thinning, felling and pruning of these woody plants.
However, one such expert across the Atlantic has found himself acting in a campaigning capacity concerning plans that he believes would serve to the detriment of a tree in Seattle.
According to a report in the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Michael Oxman has appealed the issuance of a master-use permit for a new dormitory complex linked to the University of Washington.
Already, eight trees that were considered "exceptional" under a city preservation ordinance have been cut down. However, one remains. It is a 76-foot tall American elm and this is what Mr Oxman is battling to protect.
The expert claimed that the objects were felled before a deadline for appeals had occurred. In a campaign that tree surgeons in Cambridge and tree surgeons in London, as well as elsewhere, may relate to, he is seeking to strengthen rules protecting such living items.
If the building plans go ahead, the elm will be preserved and will become a feature of a park. However, Mr Oxman is worried that because the foundations of the building are to be dug around 30 feet from the tree, its roots may be exposed to the potentially fatal Dutch elm disease.
Meanwhile, Alan Justad, deputy director of the city's Department of Planning and Development, said he is looking into why the permit allowing the tree cutting was issued before the appeal period had run.
Commenting on the process of planting new trees to replace old ones that have been felled, Mr Oxman issued a warning. He claimed that smaller, younger trees provide less in the way of air cleansing and water retention benefits than their older counterparts.
The expert is not the only tree surgeon to have been in the news recently. Earlier this autumn, it was revealed that Angus Sinclair had helped to rescue a cat named Smudge from a tree, the Kidderminster Shuttle reported.
