For Immediate Release May 28, 2024
Court documents at https://www.davis-meeker-oak.org/copy-of-legal-documents-1
Hashtag: #tumwateroak
Citizens in Court to Protect Historic Garry Oak from City of Tumwater
OLYMPIA—The citizen’s group that obtained a court order on Friday, May 24 to prevent the City of Tumwater from cutting down a historic, state-protected 400-year-old Garry oak will be in court this Friday, May 31 at 9:00 a.m. before Judge Egeler, at 2000 Lakeridge Dr. S.W. Bldg. 3, Olympia, WA 98502.
At issue is a city motion to vacate the temporary restraining order issued by Judge Sharonda Amamilo of Thurston County Superior Court for the group Save the Davis Meeker Gary Oak.
The judge issued the TRO by request of attorney Ronda Larson Kramer to prevent immediate destruction of the oak, a state-protected species listed in the Tumwater Register of Historic Places. Larson Kramer has asked the court to retain the TRO and extend it for two months as a pair of nesting kestrels has been found in the tree and are protected under federal law.
Citizens organized earlier this month after Mayor Debbie Sullivan overrode the refusal of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission to remove the tree from the Tumwater Register of Historic Places. It was added in 1995 and is the only living thing on the register. The rest are area buildings. Ignoring the commission, Sullivan made an administrative decision to cut the tree down.
SDMGO has submitted motions to the court to keep the order in effect for four reasons:
Errors within the city-funded tree-risk matrix artificially elevated the risk of the tree from a moderate to high-risk rating. The decision for removal contradicts expert recommendations for “load reduction pruning” contained in that report by a contracted arborist. The report was primarily written in June of 2023. The timeline defined in the report was valid for a period of one year. The report is effectively moot because the timeline has already passed without incident.
“The arborist’s report produced for the City of Tumwater condemning this tree contains a litany of errors,” said Larson Kramer.
Because the oak is listed in the historic register, (Tumwater Municipal Code 2.62.060) a permit is required for removal. Mayor Sullivan claims that the code allows an exception to the permit requirement if an emergency exists. However, the code states that the emergency exception only allows repairs, not destruction, of something on the register (TMC 2.62.030(K)).
“Cutting down a tree is not a repair,” said Larson Kramer.
There is a mating pair of kestrels in a cavity in the tree. The female is leucistic or white, an uncommon genetic variation. The Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits interference until the chicks have fledged. The nesting cycle for kestrels is normally two months and the requested extension of the TRO will protect them.
Mayor Sullivan gave the tribes only two weeks’ notice of her plan to cut the tree, though she received the flawed report she relied on seven months earlier. This violates requirements to offer early and appropriate consultation with tribes.
“The mayor merely carries out the laws that the council enacts,” said Larson Kramer. “The council is the body that has authority to stop this atrocious violation of the law by the mayor.”
Indigenous people for millennia used the old Cowlitz Trail where the tree is located. Later settlers traveled the route as a branch of the Oregon Trail; the tree became a landmark for them. Eventually, it was named after environmentalist Jack Davis who spearheaded a movement to preserve the tree from highway encroachment in 1984 and for pioneer settler Ezra Meeker.
SDMGO will be at the Tumwater City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 4 at 7 p.m. at the Tumwater City Hall, 555 Israel Rd. S.W. in Tumwater.
“The issue is the council members' inaction to save this tree,” said Michelle Peterson of Tumwater. “My mayor shouldn't steamroll this through. Last week, the Bellingham City Council enacted measures to protect landmark trees. This week, we should do the same; the council can lead the way.”
At the June 4 meeting, the group will request the council adopt a measure identical to one recently passed in Bellingham that protects heritage trees.
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