TO THE EDITOR
EDITOR’S NOTE: Too many letters, too little space. Check our website
(www.eugeneweekly.com) last week and this week for additional letters.
YEAH, GO TORREY!
REPUTATION SUFFERS
As a progressive political activist, I am
thrilled to hear of Jim Torrey’s flirtation with
a mayoral write-in campaign for several rea-
sons.
First, as the most polarizing, conservative,
Bush-supporting Republican politician in
Eugene, Torrey will inspire progressives to
vote. This means more votes for Kerry,
DeFazio and even Nader. In fact, Eugene pro-
gressives will be more motivated by Torrey
than by anyone since Lon Mabon, whose last
anti-human-rights measure brought out vast
numbers of Clinton voters in ‘92.
Second, a Torrey campaign will inspire
progressives not just to vote, but to contribute
time and money to Piercy and other candi-
dates. This letter, for instance, and the check
I’m about to write to Piercy’s campaign, are
but the beginning of the contributions I plan
to make, if Torrey runs.
Third, a Torrey campaign would do
much to continue the traditional entertain-
ment value of Eugene politics. Running
again after announcing his retirement is a lit-
tle silly, but running against Piercy after
congratulating her on her victory is down-
right absurd.
We progressives have too often played
the fool in the past; it’s nice of the
conservatives to take a turn. Finally, Torrey
will either opt out of this campaign, or lose
decisively. Either outcome will hearten us
progressives (defined as people who value
people over profits) to continue to take back
our city.
In short: Run, Jim, run.
Martin Champion
Eugene
Indeed Jim Torrey worked hard to estab-
lish his reputation as a community leader
who strove to build consensus and create a
climate of success through innovation. Every
day that passes without his denouncing ef-
forts to conduct a write-in mayoral campaign
diminishes his reputation.
Contrary to a full page ad in the R-G
(8/17) which states, “Since his name wasn’t
on the May primary, only one name will ap-
pear on the November ballot,” Kitty Piercy
will be the sole candidate on ballots this fall
because the democratic process is alive and
well in Eugene.
The voters were faced with a choice in
May: Nancy Nathanason, who was endorsed
by Torrey and thereby presumably expected
to carry his strategies and agenda forward; or
Kitty Piercy, a candidate who offers the com-
munity a fresh approach to civic matters and
leadership. Eugeneans chose Piercy by a
clear majority. Since the May primary, Piercy
has been working hard – identifying issues,
assessing needs, building coalitions, and
forging partnerships all with a respectful and
responsible demeanor. The rest of us would
do well to follow her example.
Laurie Trieger
Eugene
ANOTHER INDY
Comments regarding Seth Walker’s
“Facing the Music” article (8/12): It is 100
percent negative. It does not accurately ac-
knowledge the breadth of indy record stores
in Eugene and assumes that they are all fail-
ing.
The article is laced with falsities. Walker’s
article refers to CD World and Face the Music
as independent and Green Noise as large. All
false.
It fails to acknowledge that all small busi-
nesses are suffering under the weight of cor-
porate domination of the retail world. Not
just record stores. There’s no justification for
one store to take center stage in our weekly
newspaper to whine about how difficult it is
to be in business.
It doesn’t mention what is apparently
Eugene’s only growing indy record store,
The Museum of Unfine Art and Record
Store, now in its third year of business. I
make no bones of saying that the Museum
takes pride in stocking the most independent
and least commercially viable/subsumable
musics that there are: avante, no-wave, noise,
free jazz, skronk, glitch, electro-clash experi-
mental, etc.
Maybe the Museum isn’t going under be-
cause it doesn’t pander to the outmoded aes-
thetics of the rock ’n’ roll industry and offers
music that is not only economically inde-
pendent but aesthetically independent of pop-
rock.
People are tired of generic indie rock and
bratty punk-rock. They’re tired of being con-
descended to by an industry that favors image
over substance and marketing by genre over
BY PHILL CARROLL
Cutting the Old Ones
Our urban forest is not a wild ecosystem.
A
n Aug. 5 Slant piece in this paper mentioned Whitey Lueck’s July
30 presentation to the City Club of Eugene and his “radical” no-
tion that mature urban trees may be removed, for reasons
other than hazard abatement or disease control, to avoid problems in the
future. This idea is not radical, but rather standard practice.
Eugene’s big old trees are removed every week of the year, and many
problems are solved, among them: the challenge of operating heavy
equipment on construction jobsites where trees are to be preserved; the
burdensome need for arboricultural consulting during development; and avoid-
ance of non-standard site plans which make room for mature trees. In existing land-
scapes, views can be opened and landscapes can be rid of falling debris, such as leaves
and seeds, when large-canopy trees are cut. We rarely hear of anyone having such prob-
lems, and this is a testament to our effective, pre-emptive tree removal practices.
These practices are due for a change.
Trees are readily removed for two main reasons: because the substantial benefits of
trees, especially large ones, are not widely known; and because Eugene’s Land Use Code
excepts many parcels and development sites from regulation.
Big old trees play an important ecological role, even here in town, in that they posses
microhabitats that younger trees are unable to provide. Dead limbs, rough bark and hol-
lows make for happy dwellings for organisms from beetles to birds. There is also a cer-
tain spiritual microhabitat big old trees provide people. In the ancient and spreading
limbs of oak, we all can find a bit of solace.
The old trees standing in Eugene are connections to our landscape and cultural his-
tory. The Chase sequoia on Garden Way, the Oregon white oaks on Gillespie or Skinner’s
Buttes, and the weathered old firs in River Ridge golf course, site of the Ayres home-
4 AUGUST 26, 2004
stead, are all windows to our past. Eugene is sprinkled with such fine old residents. The
Tree Foundation has created the Legacy Tree Program, to be unveiled this fall, which will
make these trees and their value more accessible to all.
So what of Mr. Lueck’s remarks? In the context of his talk, he mentioned tree removal
several times. Whitey can “accept” certain tree removal, he said, and we might
consider cutting trees depending on our goals for any specific portion of our
urban forest. Logging parts of Spencer Butte Park to promote age and habi-
tat diversity is one example he provided. Removing tall fast-growing indi-
viduals in a landscape in order to promote growth of longer-lived, slow-
growing ones may be another. Such tree removals can understandably
cause consternation. After all, every tree is a potential Legacy Tree. But we
have less to fear from intelligent action than we do from passive outrage
and mistrust.
W
e live in an urban forest. Forest because it is comprised of interrelated
trees, vegetation and soils sharing a common environment. Urban be-
cause it’s where we are. The human component of our forest’s dynam-
ics is the largest and, to me, most engaging. In addition to questions of botany, climatol-
ogy and ecology, we can ask “Who?” and “Why?” when pondering our landscape’s
bounty. Think of all the trees downtown, in yards and alleys and parks, and know that
they were all, with few exceptions, planted. We are not merely forest denizens, but stew-
ards. We may scurry and chatter when trees fall because of ignorance or economy, but
we have the wherewithal to improve our situation.
The formerly treeless plain that is now Eugene has long since abdicated its wild des-
tiny. It is through the actions of people that much of our surroundings have formed. As
we strive to improve Eugene’s urban ecosystem we must look for lessons not only in the
forests and prairies of our valley but also in the policies and practices of our city. It is not
radical that some tree-lovers would advocate occasional tree removal, but that this city
of tree-lovers would be so ill-prepared for the future.
Phillip Carroll is a horticulturist at the UO, a certified arborist and president of the Eugene Tree Foundation.