NEWS BRIEFS
CONTINUED FROM P. 8
community’s will” the “only outlet at the moment is to take
action at the local level.”
To learn more about this local action against GMO
foods, go to “What You Need to Know about GMOs in your
Food and Farms” at 7pm Wednesday, May 30, 177 Lawrence
Hall at the UO and check out www.gmofreeoregon.org
— Camilla Mortensen
NOT ANOTHER
MAPLE TREE?
A lone maple tree remains near the 5th Street Public
Market and the new boutique Inn at the 5th. But not for long.
Cutting Eugene’s urban forest has long been a sore point in
town, and once the orange signs were posted warning of the
tree’s fate, people began to question why this tree has to go.
Like the maple trees that once lined Pearl Street, this last
maple is considered by the city of Eugene to be dead and
dying. In April the decision was made to cut it down,
according to Urban Forester Mark Snyder with Eugene Parks
and Open Space. “I’ve been noting the tree’s decline for a
number of years,” he says.
Last summer Snyder recalls the tree beginning to show a
lot of dying branches and yellowing. As of right now the tree
is considered a safety issue because there’s the possibility
that it might fall down, he says.
Last year several bigleaf maples shading the Community
Center for the Performing Arts’ WOW Hall were slated to be
chopped down by the city, which cited safety issues. The
WOW Hall hired an arborist and tree risk assessor to give a
second opinion and worked out a deal with the city that
allowed two of trees to be maintained for long enough to
give replacement trees a chance to grow.
Urban trees, or street trees as they are often called,
provide shade that reduces cooling costs in the summer and
are said to reduce stress for urban dwellers as well as
improve air quality in cities.
The main reason that Snyder has been monitoring the 5th
Street Public Market tree is because of prior topping. “When
you top a tree it’s a bad pruning method — in fact it’s illegal
— but it still gets done,” he says. “It’s an old-time practice.”
He suspects that the topping on this particular maple might
have first been done all the way back in the 1940s. Over the
years the branches have gotten progressively worse because
of the practice, he says.
According to Snyder, topping results in new branches
sprouting that are only attached to the outer ring of wood.
Most healthy branches come from within, internally. The
shallow branches as a result of topping end up dying.
The work order to cut the tree down has gone through, but
Snyder is uncertain when the contract will fall in to place and
the sawing carried out.
Last fall, the maple trees that were cut down near the
hotel were repurposed as furniture in rooms and the lobby.
— Ted Shorack
PISGAH BURSTS
INTO FLOWER
If you want to enjoy an inordinate amount of wildflower-
frenzy this weekend, Mount Pisgah is the place to be for the
Wildflower Festival Sunday, May 20. Not only can you look
forward to a languishing in a splendor of earth-borne colors
in peak petal form, you may also wish to wander the native
plants sale or sniff out the food vendors while taking in a
different bands’ set-list at the top of every hour starting from
10 am and ending with marimba beats at 4 pm. Parking will
be free but a $5 donation from those over 12 will be asked
at the entry.
Three tours will be offered by both Mount Pisgah
Arboretum and by Friends of Buford Park and Mount
Pisgah. Be sure to bring the entire family; there’s enough to
keep everyone satisfied: dancing, exploring, or relaxing to
live music in the outdoors. Leave dogs at home, please,
organizers say.
The idea is to bring “wildflowers closer to the people of
Eugene,” says Rainee Tiske, office manager at Mount
Pisgah Arboretum. There can be up to 500 types of flowers,
she says, and last year’s festival saw more than 300. “It
varies year to year,” she says.
The festival offers an opportunity to identify local native
plants up close with the help of resident experts from
Eugene’s Native Plant Society, which gives the community
a chance to see what really does grow in the area around
Eugene, Tiske says.
The 1 pm tour will be conducted by EW’s “It’s about
Time” author and artist David Wagner.
— Stacey M. Hollis
SCYP TO DO
FOLLOW-UP
The UO’s Sustainable City Year Program (SCYP) will be
continuing next fall with follow-up work on various projects
under way in Springfield, Salem and possibly Gresham. The
combination will fund the program for another year, says
Robert Liberty, executive director of the Sustainable Cities
Initiative that oversees the SCYP. This will be the first year
the program has not had a single city focus.
The SCYP is a unique town-and-gown collaboration
linking city government projects around Oregon with the
expertise and work of hundreds of UO students and
professors, along with architects and other professionals in
the community (see EW cover story, Feb. 2). Cities get a
boost in their efforts to become more efficient and
sustainable, and students benefit from hands-on, practical
experience.
NOW IN
OPEN NIGHTS
PROGRESS
505 South A Street
Oregon Quarterly magazine, with support
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THURSDAY, MAY 24, 7:00 P.M.
:WYPUNÄLSK6YLNVU
Gerlinger Hall Alumni Lounge
University of Oregon
1468 University Street, Eugene
Opening remarks by this year’s judge, Robin
Cody, followed by readings of winning essays by:
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Mon- Fri 9-8
:H[
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AFTER 57 YEARS
M. K. Funk | Mary DeMocker
Adam David Nilsson | Rachel Hammer
Janie Kliever | Amy Shannon
U O L IB R A R I E S S P E C I A L C O L L E C T IO N S
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Questions? Call 541-346-5048
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