Herculean effort by Concordia Tree Team saves trees at International Grove
Written by Jordana Leeb
On August 11th, rebuilding of the overpass over Lombard at NE 42nd begins. The reconstructed overpass should be able to withstand the large earthquake predicted for the Northwest that could come at any time.
To accommodate the large crane needed to hoist girders into place, and to store other construction materials, Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) originally was going to cut down 15 trees in the Cully-Concordia International Grove just west of the overpass. But thanks to efforts by the Concordia tree team, six of those trees have been saved from the chainsaw.
The Grove was planted 14 years ago to help reduce air pollution and noise from the airport, railroad, and Highway 30 (Lombard). Concordia Tree Team (CTT) members in April hand dug one of the smaller monkey puzzles and dragged it uphill on a tarp to a spot within the Grove which is outside the area being clearcut. [More about the Grove]
This spring, CTT member Jim Gersbach worked behind the scenes to find the only private nursery with equipment that could handle moving trees as large as those in the Grove. Owner Dan Hickman of Big Trees Today of Hillsboro came to the site and was willing to move three of the blue Atlas cedars for free in exchange for taking two giant sequoias marked for destruction. By selling those to paying clients, he could recoup some of his equipment and labor costs, making the deal viable.
On August 3rd, two blue Atlas cedars were relocated with the supporting advocacy and hands of CTT members.
Gersbach then arranged a meeting with Portland Urban Forestry tree inspector Mariano Masolo and Josh Hall, supervisor of Cascade Construction, the contractor hired by PBOT to rebuild the overpass. Masolo said that since a permit had already been issued to cut down the trees, there was no issue with moving them to a new site within the Grove or removing them to new homes elsewhere.
While Hall had a bulldozer knocking down trees in the path of the crane, he was kind enough to remove a dead cypress and some blackberries where the Atlas cedars needed to move to. On Friday, Aug. 1, Big Trees Today dug up the two largest Atlas cedars and each of their six-ton rootballs and placed them into perfectly sized holes they had dug. Astonishingly the trees landed completely upright and with only a few lower branches damaged by the moving equipment.
The third blue Atlas cedar will be moved to its new home in the Ainsworth median at NE 33rd Avenue on Monday, Aug. 4th.
The blue Atlas cedars (Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’) represent Africa in the International Grove, being native to the mountains of Algeria and Morocco. The trees face many threats in their homelands, including forest fires, grazing by goats, logging, and climate change.
CTT volunteers Autumn, Christine, Jim, Joe, Jordana, Lizzy and Mallory on August 1st and 3rd picked up garbage, scraped grass from around the transplanted trees, dig out blackberry roots and provided about 100 gallons of water to each tree.
It is important to note that if Portland’s Urban Forestry cannot help water the transplanted trees due to capacity issues, the tree team will be managing the 100 gallons per week watering until fall rains relieve them of the task. 100 gallons a week for all of August and September, a huge lift for the team!
If you are interested in helping water these trees even if only for one week – please reach out to the Tree Team >>
