(Photo provided by Seattle Parks)
Seattle Parks says it’s hired a crew to cut 22 trees along SW Jacobsen, which runs east from Beach Drive at the south end of the Emma Schmitz Viewpoint waterfront. Spokesperson Dewey Potter explains:
This is to let you know that Parks is hiring a contractor to remove some hazardous alder trees along SW Jacobsen Rd., which runs through Me-Kwa-Mooks natural area. There are 22 trees identified for removal; all have either dead tops, advanced decay, severe leans and/or compromised structure. All have been rated at 11 points out of 12 on the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA): http://www.isa-arbor.com/ hazard evaluation form.
The trees have had signs on them for several months indicating that they are to be removed. One neighbor responded that she was concerned about migratory bird nesting, so Parks delayed the project until well after nesting season. In the field, several neighbors have expressed concerns about the trees because of falling branches or failing trees, and are happy that we are taking action. There is parking along the road and frequent pedestrian and vehicle traffic, which is endangered by falling limbs or whole tree failures. There have been several whole tree failures across the street in the past several years. The tree crew has done clearance and hazard mitigation pruning within the past year, but based on their aerial inspections, they report that the trees had defects that pruning could not correct. Given the species and conditions of the trees and site conditions, our professional arborists think that removing these trees is a necessary action to protect people and property.
Parks bid out the project, and the successful bidder is Asplundh Tree Expert Co. The contractor will be responsible for traffic control and chipping and removing logs.
Potter says the work will start on December 3rd.
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