They did it because they could

After Tuesdays' Butchery of Roadside Trees, we were told by a guy in Snohomish County Public Works (management) ... there would be no more tree pruning-cutting along 240th St.

WRONG!

Here's the "before" pic taken 10/22/13 of the place where the work crew decided to do their thing. Note the colorful maples almost in the center of the photo.

This morning, literally in the fog, the chainsaw crew were back and busy as beavers whacking away at more trees along 240th.

Since what they were doing made zero sense to me, I tried guessing what it was they were thinking .....

"Hey boss, we gotta cut those limbs, waaaaay up there, 'cause if we don't, hot air balloons are gonna get stuck."

"Yea, we just made telephone poles."

"Look! More trees!"

"Really? A tree needs limbs?  Go on, you're kiddin' me!"

And here's the "after pic of the crew's efforts.
Note the absence of the colorful maples.

...............

I realize it wouldn't have been quite as thrilling as the whacking of tall evergreens or the colorful maples ... but it would've been more valuable if the work crew had left the maples alone and driven a few yards up the road and removed the misshapen weedy trees (on both sides of the road) which they had sort of cut on Tuesday. 

On second thought, I think it's best the tree whackers don't return to Wellington Hills Park.
Maybe that should do their handy work in Everett, perhaps along Rockefeller Ave.
............

And you trust the County government to do the right thing with Wellington Hills Park?


photos by Bill Stankus
October 2013

The Eye of the Beholder

I think it's safe to say, there are many things we, as a people, see in a similar fashion.  We see a car wrecked along the road and one of the first thoughts is, "I hope everyone is OK".  Or, at dusk, for a few moments the sky turns a blazing shade of reddish orange with streaks of pale yellow, and we stop what we're doing and say, "Wow, would you look at that."

With that I mind, I present to you a simple view...

The tree on the left has more or less grown in a natural manner and the two trees, close together, on the right have been "pruned" by County government employees.

I don't care what the on-the-spot justification was for the "pruning", it was, in my opinion, a callous act of something close to vandalism.

photo by Bill Stankus
October 24, 2013

G-Job

Today, I went to Wellington Park to see if the foggy haze offered any pleasant views of the park. 

I was standing at the wooden fence near where 240th St. slopes downhill towards Route 9 ... and an orange-colored Snohomish County Public Works truck rolled by ...

I decided to stick around and see what they were going to do - because with the County, you never know ...

I asked one of the vested guys, "What's up?" 
He replied, "We're improving the road's sight-line."

So I stayed around and watched as they "improved" the sight-line for ... I dunno, maybe low flying aircraft, traveling ladder salesmen, stampeding giraffes, circus jugglers or stilt walkers.

I mean why else would they de-limb the trees 30+ feet up from the ground?

I asked if anyone in the crew was a trained arborist ... No, but a guy said he had some training in tree cutting.

Silly me, what was I thinking? ... A trained arborist? I mean, these guys had vests, hard hats, big trucks, a chainsaw and a chipper... isn't that enough?

And before you ask, the poled lines that parallel 240th St. are on the other side of the street and not close to the targeted trees.

Maybe whacking trees is like eating potato chips ... ya can't stop with one ...

Poor trees ... they've been standing there like forever, not harming a thing ... 
and now they're just tall misshapen things.

And this was done by the County that wants to turn Wellington Hills Park into a REGIONAL SPORTS COMPLEX with giganto parking lots?

the "before" pic ... taken 10/10/13

ps: 
And who were those two dudes who did a beeline for the woods with clipboards and a machete?

photos by  Bill Stankus
October 22, 2013

Fall - Wellington Hills Park

In the Park ...

photos by Bill Stankus

today's date, October 19, 2013

A choice

Within the existing Wellington Hills Park, Snohomish County's Department of Parks has plans to build parking lots (for over 750 cars):

People who use parks enjoy walking woodland trails and they do so because of scenes such as this:

the location of this photo: in an area where the Department of Parks has proposed building artificial turf fields  

photo by Bill Stankus
October 2013



If you think the proposed regional sports complex plan from the Department of Parks is a wrong-headed, stupid idea - please write the Snohomish County Council and the County Executive and tell them so ...

the devil's in the details

Recently, a Snoco County guy was attempting to explain how, sometimes they will do a trade-off when "developing" an area.  After they've cut down a tree that's over 10" in diameter they will plant (somewhere) a smaller replacement tree.  

At Wellington Hills Park ... their plan calls for digging out the soil, maybe as much as 15+ feet in depth in the area where the old golf course buildings were located ... Once the soil is removed the plan is to install artificial turf fields, stadium lights and an indoor activities building.

The tree in the photo?  Well, it's located in that deep dig area.

I guess, someplace in Snohomish County a new tiny tree will get planted.

photo by Bill Stankus
2013