Restoration work to start at West Seattle illegal-tree-cutting sites; 2 morning open houses next week

The city is about to start restoration work on the East Admiral sites where trees were illegally cut, three months after announcing a settlement in part of the case. Today’s announcement also includes word of two open houses next week, both early in the morning:

In 2016 more than 150 trees were cut from the Duwamish Head Greenbelt, which is owned by Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) and Seattle Department of Transportation. The City of Seattle filed two lawsuits regarding the cutting. In April 2017, the City settled one of the two lawsuits. The funds from this settlement enable Seattle Parks and Recreation to begin removing and replacing damaged and destroyed trees. The settlement funds will also enable Seattle Parks and Recreation to carry out standard urban forest restoration work to protect hillsides and wetlands. SPR will remove nonnative invasives, implement erosion control measures, plant native vegetation, and monitor the site to ensure that new plantings become successfully established.

Large equipment will be moved into the north Duwamish Head Greenbelt and truck traffic will increase. SPR and the contractor will make every effort to minimize impact to the community. The project remediation and erosion control work will occur from July to December 2017 with planting occurring from November 2017 to March 2018. Additional restoration work and monitoring will last through 2022.

SPR is hosting two Informational Open Houses from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 18 and Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Please join us at 3201 35th Ave. SW at the dead end of 35th Ave. SW north of SW Hinds St.

All vehicles, or any other personal property items parked or stored on the public property in the north portion of the Duwamish Head Greenbelt must be removed by Sunday, July 16, 2017. The City may impound any vehicle or remove personal property remaining on the property after July 16, 2017. If you have questions please contact Michael Foster, Senior Real Property Agent, Seattle Parks and Recreation at michael.foster@seattle.gov or 206-684-0767.

For more information about the mitigation and restoration work please visit www.greenseattle.org or contact Jon Jainga, Interim Natural Resource Manager at jon.joinga@seattle.gov or 206-684-4113.

King County Superior Court online files show the case that was not settled is still proceeding through the system, with a trial date recently pushed back to May 2018.

9 Replies to "Restoration work to start at West Seattle illegal-tree-cutting sites; 2 morning open houses next week"

  • Swede. July 10, 2017 (10:30 pm)

    Nice to see that they are using the money for the right thing. 

  • Martin July 10, 2017 (11:12 pm)

    Marty Reiner live broadcast from the sight!

  • anonyme July 11, 2017 (6:25 am)

    May the reconstruction be loud, long, and disruptive, and the replacement trees be very, very tall.

    • Jim July 11, 2017 (8:00 am)

      Anonyme – You need to control your hatred of “them.”  There are many people living near that area that have no view and had nothing to do with the cutting.   

  • Ryan Richards July 11, 2017 (6:43 am)

    Replace them with even taller trees. These jerks should never be allowed a view.

  • Duwamesque July 11, 2017 (7:47 am)

    I want to point out that a mentally disturbed homeless man was arrested and charged with a crime for causing $5,000 worth of damage to ONE tree downtown. Meanwhile the rich criminal elites who cut down hundreds of trees for pure greed get away with a slap on the wrist. The one percenters know the normal rules don’t apply to them because our justice systems penalizes the poor and rewards the wealthy. If only we had a City prosecutor with some moral courage.

    • Pedro July 12, 2017 (1:13 pm)

      Your concocted story leaves out a few details; like the fact that the individual in question had a criminal history, disobeyed valid and lawful direct orders from police, and assaulted numerous members of the public. 

      In other words – there is no comparison. 

      Also, the individual was not sent to jail, but to mental health services. 

      Too much hate out here people.

  • WSRedux July 11, 2017 (8:52 am)

    Duwamesque: 

    From the earlier WS Blog article regarding the money paid by two of the couples charged in the illegal tree cutting: “According to the settlement, two couples ………. will together pay the City $440,000 regarding one of the decimated areas. The City’s suit regarding the other area is ongoing, and unaffected by this settlement.”

    $440,000 isn’t small change, even if those involved are in the 1% bracket. And that doesn’t cover that portion of the clear cut that is still tied up in a law suit. I think the total monies paid by the perpetrators will be at least double the $440k paid by these two couples.

    • CAM July 11, 2017 (9:24 am)

      Are you suggesting that if a person can pay a large enough fine they don’t have to go to jail if they commit a crime? Monetary penalties being equal to time in jail is a false equivalency with all kinds of potentially dangerous outcomes. 

      I’m not suggesting what should be the appropriate way to deal with this situation. I just think Duwamesque made a good point. 

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