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Photos, Videos, Podcasts

First Annual Cowlitz Trail Walk (10/27/2024) 

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Participants gather at the Davis Meeker oak before walking 2.7 miles to the Squalli-absch Family Forest along the path of the Cowlitz Trail/Oregon Trail.  Photo credit: Kathy Cox.

2024-10-27 Cowlitz Trail walk

2024-10-27 Cowlitz Trail walk

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Participants of the walk enjoy a fire and sandwiches at the Squalli-absch Family Forest after walking from the Davis Meeker oak 2.7 miles along the path of the Cowlitz Trail/Oregon Trail. Video credit: Ronda Larson Kramer.

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Ronda Larson Kramer, Brette Clubbe, Greg LaDue-Grove, and Ray Gleason at the Cowlitz Trail/Oregon Trail crossing in the Squalli-absch Family Forest. Photo credit: Ronda Larson Kramer.

Radio interview on Bar Holdings and the tree

Radio Interview with Oak Tree Litigation Update for Last 15 Minutes (9/12/2024)

Podcast from KAOS Parallel University featuring an oak tree litigation update (the last 15 minutes of the interview) and a discussion of a recent change in state land use laws that could result in the paving over of one of the last remaining remnants of the Cowlitz Trail, which is on forestland a mile south of the oak tree. The interviewees are Ronda Larson Kramer and Marianne Tompkins.

Ronda Larson, Marianne Tompkins--UGA swaps and the oak treeKAOS Parallel University podcast on the Davis Meeker oak
00:00 / 1:00:00
Radio interview on Native American issues

Radio Interview on the Cowlitz Trail and the Davis Meeker Oak (9/22/2024) 

September 22, 2024, KAOS Podcast-Make No Bones About It, about Native American history and the Cowlitz Trail and Davis Meeker oak, featuring Ronda Larson Kramer, Cowlitz Tribe historian Mike Iyall, Michelle Peterson, and Cowlitz Tribe elder Greg LaDue-Grove. 

Ronda Larson Kramer, Mike Iyall, Michelle Peterson, Greg LaDue-Grove inteview 9/22/2024KAOS Make No Bones About It - Cowlitz Trail and the Davis Meeker oak
00:00 / 44:34
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Photo credit: Brian Frisina

2024-09-08 Casey Neill

2024-09-08 Casey Neill

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Radio Interview on the Fight to Save the Davis Meeker Oak (6/27/2024) 

Podcast from KAOS Parallel University gong in-depth on the exciting last-minute save of the tree. The interviewees are Ronda Larson Kramer, Michelle Peterson, and Beowulf Brower

Ronda Larson Kramer, Beowulf Brower, Michelle Peterson inteview 6/27/2024KAOS Parallel University podcast on the Davis Meeker oak
00:00 / 1:00:00

1984 - The road is moved to save the tree

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Spring 1984. Photo by Karen Fraser

In 1984, the county owned the tree. The county road department wanted to make safety improvements to Old Highway 99 and asked the county commissioners for permission to cut down the tree.

 

Several citizens testified that the tree should be saved. Jack Davis was an eminent leader of environmental issues in the area. He was soft spoken and well-respected. He and others provided public testimony to the county commissioners, one of whom was Karen Fraser (who later became a state senator). She recently spoke to Ronda Larson Kramer and recalled how it came about: "So those of us who live there, we saw that if you cut the tree down, it changes the whole landscape. So we directed the road department to save the tree and do what they could and to put up a safety barrier. It passed unanimously. . . . And Jack Davis had a lot of credibility and everyone respected his perspective." The county then moved the road to give the tree space.

 

Among those who asked the county to save the tree in 1984 was Scott Baker. He is one of the fathers of the modern risk assessment methodology. He owns Tree Solutions, which is the company that evaluated the tree in 2023 at the request of the Tumwater city arborist. At that time Mr. Baker's employee wrote that the tree had slightly more wood than was needed to support the tree and that if the tree was to be retained, it should be managed as a veteran tree.

 

But the city arborist's final recommendation contradicted this and recommended that the tree be cut down. Mr. Baker later wrote an email to the city and called the city arborist's own risk assessment an "embarrassment to any knowledgeable arborist." 

2024 - See How the Tree Has Grown!

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June 28, 2024. Photo by Wayne Shreckengosh.

Davis Meeker oak in Tumwater in the winter.

Photo by Ronelle Funk, January 12, 2019, at 9:32 am.

5/9/2024 Photos from a drone, taken by the City of Tumwater in anticipation of imminent removal.

Old Highway 99 Reroute Plan

by Professor Robert Van Pelt

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July 8, 2024. Photo by Robert Van Pelt, of California

How to move the road. Professor Robert Van Pelt, a forest ecologist known as Big Tree Bob, is an artist and global authority on champion trees. He specializes in quantitative ecology at the University of Washington's School of Environmental and Forest Sciences.

Descendants Meet for First Time

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August 14, 2024, Photo by Bellamy Pailthorp, KPLU Reporter

Left to Right: Brandon Staff (descendant of pioneers George and Isabella Bush), Ray Gleason (arborist), Ronda Larson Kramer (attorney), Jim Thomas (descendant of pioneer T. J. Harper), David Nicandri (historian and Tumwater Historical Commission member), and dog Gus.

According to family oral history, Brandon Staff's ancestor George Bush told Jim Thomas's ancestor T. J. Harper and Harper's Oregon Trail party (which included Ezra Meeker) to camp under the big tree northwest of Bush's farm. He told the party that the surrounding prairie would provide browse for their livestock and a small lake just to the east would be a convenient place to water the stock. Jim Thomas's family believes that the Davis-Meeker oak, the largest in the area, is the one they camped under. Descendants Brandon and Jim met each other for the first time on August 14, 2024 at the Davis Meeker oak, which most likely was that tree.

Young Kestrels at the Tree

Kestrel young ready to fledge

Kestrel young ready to fledge

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Three young ready to fledge, receiving grasshoppers from Dad.

July 10 2024. Video by Melinda Wood of Olympia 

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July 10, 2024. Photos by Melinda Wood of Olympia 

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Young kestrel exercising his wings

Young kestrel exercising his wings

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One of the three young kestrels exercising his wings.

July 10, 2024. Video by Melinda Wood of Olympia 

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The three young kestrels begging for food from their parents.

July 10, 2024. Photo by Melinda Wood of Olympia 

Kestrel Nesting Behavior

Kestrels often reuse the same nest site every year, and their offspring can continue to use that same nest site down through the generations. Also, kestrels will use their nesting cavities as roosting sites outside of the breeding season. ​ "American Kestrels are secondary cavity nesters that nest in existing natural and man-made cavities. The species prefers nest sites that are surrounded by suitable hunting grounds and that have unobstructed entrances. In some areas, the lack of available nest cavities limits the number of breeding pairs... "The male often 'flutter-glides' and calls as he approaches the nest site when delivering prey. When he does, the female flies out of the nest cavity and “flutter-glides” with him. [See the video above of the white kestrel and her mate exhibiting this exact behavior, and turn your audio up loud to hear the male call to the female and to hear her respond to him right before she exits the cavity to flutter-glide with him]. "Pairs reuse nest sites particularly if they have successfully raised a brood there previously. Kestrels typically are monogamous and some pairs remain together across years. In sedentary populations, kestrels often remain at the nest site for the entire year. "Young kestrels depend on their parents for food for two to three weeks after they fledge. During this time, the young sometimes return to the nest cavity to roost... "Although kestrels are well-adapted to human-dominated environments, measures that decrease the amount of foraging habitat and the number of nest sites, such as changes in farming practices, loss of agricultural areas, and increased suburbanization and urbanization negatively impact them. American Kestrels suffer from competition with other species for nest sites as well." See https://www.hawkmountain.org/raptors/american-kestrel....

Gathering at the Davis Meeker Oak on June 8, 2024

Cowlitz Tribe members of Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak stand in front of the tree in appropriate t-shirts.

Not Today Colonizer. Respect Existence or Expect Resistance. Cowlitz Tribe members Teri Graves of Carbonado and Sahra Forespring of Tacoma stand in front of the Davis Meeker oak.

June 8, 2024. Photo by Ronda Larson Kramer

Marles Blackbird, member of Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak, ties a red ribbon because ancestors see red. The tree is a marker for Native American burials.

Marles Blackbird of Olympia ties a red ribbon at the oak tree. The Davis Meeker oak is a headstone for the Native Americans buried there. According to some tribes, red is the only color the ancestors can see.

June 8, 2024. Photo by Ronda Larson Kramer

Members of Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak gather at the tree.

Protect Living History. Marles Blackbird of Olympia holds a sign while Chad Kramer of Olympia (with dog Gus) and Stewart Hartman of Tumwater watch on, next to the Davis Meeker oak and the historic hangar.

June 8, 2024. Photo by Ronda Larson Kramer

Members of Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak enjoy a sunny day at the tree.

Rob Stewart and Phoenix Stewart of Tenino in front of the Davis Meeker oak. 

June 8, 2024. Photo by Ronda Larson Kramer

Rally at the Davis Meeker Oak on May 25, 2024

The Davis Meeker Oak at sunset.

May 25, 2024. Photo by Sue Ellen White

Casey Neill concert
Dana Lyons concert, 8/16/2024

Dana Lyons concert, 8/16/2024

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Mated pair of American kestrels raising young in the Davis Meeker oak

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Male kestrel on his favorite perch across the street, June 19, 2024, image by Nancy Partlow, Tumwater WA

Video of the male kestrel

on his favorite perch across the street:

Male kestrel near Davis Meeker oak in Tumwater - YouTube. 

Recorded on June 19, 2024: 

Video credit: Nancy Partlow, of Tumwater WA.

May 25, 2024, image by Michelle Peterson

A member of the group Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak got this screenshot of the female kestrel leaving her nest in the oak tree.

May 25, 2024, image by Michelle Peterson

May 25, 2024, video by Michelle Peterson

May 25, 2024, image by Michelle Peterson, Tumwater, WA

A member of the group Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak took this photo of the female kestrel in the tree.

April 18, 2024, photo by Beowulf Brower

Endangered Pocket Gopher Beneath the Tree

 

This photo is that of a mazama pocket gopher mound.  
A member of Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak spotted this pocket gopher mound next to the tree.
A member of Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak spotted this pocket gopher mound next to the tree.

May 26, 2024, image by Christina Manetti

May 26, 2024, image by Christina Manetti, Tacoma WA

Concept Design for Protection Bridge

Concept design for the group Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak.

June 1, 2024, image by Tanya Nozawa

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