Whose opinion should Tumwater believe about health of historic oak? City to hire another arborist
The Tumwater City Council has sent out a Request for Qualifications for another risk assessment of the historic Davis-Meeker Garry oak, bringing a fifth tree professional to help decide whether to cut down or save the 400-year-old tree.
Council member Joan Cathey asked City Administrator Lisa Parks Tuesday whether the next assessment will take into account the previous ones performed on the tree. Parks said it will be up to the firm the city contracts with to determine if what other arborists have recommended will play a part in their decision making.
The tree was assessed by tree professional Kevin McFarland in June 2023, which included additional evaluations by a climbing arborist who looked at the upper canopy. A sonic tomography specialist performed an assessment in August. The assessments were then reviewed by a certified Master Arborist Tree Risk Assessment Qualified Municipal Specialist in October.
Parks said those assessments found that future failures are likely to occur and there are multiple areas of the tree where it could happen. She said the tree’s current status is that it poses a high risk to public safety.
Mayor Debbie Sullivan decided June 4 to hold off on cutting the tree down until another level 3 risk assessment could be completed. Since June 4, Parks and city staff have been in contact with neighboring jurisdictions who have urban forestry management programs to determine how to draft an RFQ.
Parks said the person the city contracts with has to be an ISA board certified master arborist, which is the highest certification the International Society of Arboriculture gives. It requires the arborist to have either measurable experience, some form of formal education, some related credentials or professional experience. And they have to pass an extensive scenario-based exam.
The arborist must also be Tree Risk Assessment Qualified. This involves them passing a training course that’s offered specifically to demonstrate professional knowledge in tree risk assessment processes.
Parks said the training course involves a written exam and a 100-question multiple choice test. And the arborist has to perform a tree risk assessment in under an hour. Involvement in the training course requires an ISA board certified master arborist certificate, or a degree in a related field such as urban forestry.
The arborist must also be experienced in performing level 3 tree risk assessments using the standards outlined by the American National Standards Institute.
They must also be experienced in high-value tree risk management assessments, and know how to use modern assessment techniques such as sonic tomography, aerial inspection and decay testing methodologies.
The arborist has to be a registered consulting arborist through the American Society of Consulting Arborists, and be within 250 miles of Tumwater. Parks said there are 55 people who make the cut.
Parks said the city wants to better understand the likelihood of future tree failures like the branch that fell last spring. They also want to know the likelihood of those failures impacting targets such as the roadway, cars and the airplane hangar nearby.
From that information the arborist should know the overall level of risk the tree poses and give the city recommendations for how to move forward.
Proposals from firms have to be submitted by July 18. Parks said staff will interview a list of firms July 23, and one will hopefully be selected July 24. She said the plan is to have the arborist begin their assessment August 1.
Cathey said she hopes the decision to have a more qualified arborist assess the tree leads to the city reviewing its tree ordinances. She said the city should be doing more work to contact neighboring jurisdictions that have already done the work to protect legacy and heritage trees.
Court of Appeals issues stay
On Tuesday, July 2, the citizen group Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak appealed Thurston County Superior Court’s earlier decision to dissolve a restraining order barring the City of Tumwater from cutting down the oak tree. On Wednesday, the Washington state Court of Appeals granted a temporary stay pending the group’s appeal.
In a news release from the citizen group regarding the court decision, arborist Beowulf Brower said the city’s processes and information are faulty, which led to a flawed conclusion about the health of the tree.
“It should, of all trees, have every conceivable thing done for it to avoid having to remove it,” Brower said. “The city arborist’s lack of consideration of any mitigation efforts other than full removal constitutes a breach in the expected duty of care assigned to a historic tree. By combining a scientifically backed assessment, well-informed pruning and a simple cable system, any risk that exists can be mitigated to an acceptable level.”
