Constant companions for over a generation (Camperdown Elm rt)
My site meter informed me an unusual number of folks had suddenly come here from a Google search for "Amherst College Elm tree" or close variations of that theme. I was worried the majestic Camperdown Elm had taken a beating from super storm Sandy, but well before I arrived at the part of Pratt Field the historic tree has occupied for over 100 years, I instantly knew what stimulated the sudden interest in an elm tree ... or lack thereof.
Now I'm told the whacked tree was a Hop Hornbeam. And it was a beautiful specimen.
Friends, neighbors, Amherst College faculty, Amherst Public Shade Tree Committee members and a couple of long-time columnists for the Daily Hampshire Gazette gathered round the historic Camperdown Elm on Pratt Field Amherst College yesterday and raised a glass of champagne to celebrate a reversal of the pernicious plan to kill the Camperdown.
Instead, Amherst College will pay -- or I should say an "anonymous benefactor" will cover -- the $100,000 relocation cost to move the iconic beauty out of harm's way: the $12.5 million major renovation of 122 year old Pratt Field.
A realignment of the track directly intersected with the plot of earth the stately tree has occupied, probably since Pratt Field was founded in 1891, and if not for the great concern of arbor aficionados the Camperdown was destined to become kindling.
Since this photo was taken in late July, Amherst College has enclosed the Camperdown with fencing to protect its roots, trimmed it, and is being extra careful with watering and fertilizer
The stately Camperdown Elm on Amherst College Campus released from Death Row
Amherst College has wisely decided that you can't really put a price on a majestic historic treasure like their almost one of kind (in Amherst anyway) Camperdown elm.
Yes, Amherst's largest landowner and second best liberal arts college in America will pay the $100,000 cost to safely relocate the Camperdown to a new spot on Pratt Field rather than simply cut it down and chalk it up to collateral damage in the $12.5 million renovation project.
Trees on both sides of the Camperdown will not survive realignment of track
Amherst College Director of Facilities Jim Brassord announced the stunning news last night to a group of concerned neighbors (concerned about the Camperdown, noise, traffic, etc) while giving them an update on plans for the major construction project impacting their neighborhood. The project starts after the football season finishes this fall.
Camperdown Elm will provide shade for generations of Amherst College students to come
Nobody knows for sure when the tree was planted, but just over a 120 years ago, when Pratt Field was first constructed is a pretty good bet. And yes they can easily live to be 200 or more years old.
Sure $100K is a lot of money, but less than 1% of the overall budget for the project.
Amherst Shade Tree Committee wrote to College President Biddy Martin pleading for Camperdown's salvation
All the Camperdowns in existence today emanate from a single tree created by grafting a mutant alien branch found on the forest floor to a Wych elm on the estate of the Earl of Camperdown in Dundee, Scotland circa 1835.
Combine that unique pedigree with the weeping nature of Camperdown canopy and it's no wonder it attracts an almost religious like following among tree lovers.
Normally I would say anything left leaning will have a long and happy life in the People's Republic of Amherst--just not when it's a tree leaning in the direction of a utility powerline. For instance, take this butternut on Shays Street--which they are about to do.
Amherst Tree warden Alan Snow gave me a demonstration last week of an inspection double-check on trees marked for death by Western Mass Electric Co. This butternut, besides the lean, has a host of problems--exposed roots, bug bore damage, rip away bark, and a couple of splits he could put his hand in.
Sure he could insist that WMECO simply trim off the overhanging limb as the tree would most likely survive...for now. Until all the other problems meet up with a major storm.
Tree Warden and DPW division director of trees and parks, Alan Snow
Being judge/jury/executioner for the town's tree canopy is a tough job--perhaps made even tougher by town meeting approval for 2,000 new trees. Healthy trees--even beautiful old historic ones--are now more subject to extermination for the convenience of developers and the utilities simply because they are so easily replaced by new ones, although a lot less beautiful and historic.
Therefor it's even more imperative we have someone who will speak for the trees.
At the Amherst Public Shade Tree Committee meeting this afternoon tree warden Alan Snow made it perfectly clear that his main priority is not to work with Western Mass Electric Company to "blue sky" power lines so that we citizens stay warm, comfortable and plugged in should inclement weather disrupt our urban canopy this fall or winter, potentially sending us all back into the dark ages.
And it's not to maintain the aesthetic beauty or practical environmental benefits provided by our tall friends either.
No, it's simply to try to make sure large limbs or entire trunks do not crash down on innocent bystanders, their cars or homes. In other words, risk aversion.
Committee Chair Hope Crolius reiterated how "surprised" the entire committee was when viewing the "trimming" in South Amherst, which at the previous meeting she described as the "slaughter on South East Street."
The Tree Warden responded that the electric utility calls it "enhanced trimming" and he did veto half of what WMECO wanted to whack. Half!
Maybe they were going to hire the Air Force for a napalm strike.
Leave it to the 'Powers That Be' to take one of the most endearing symbols of hope--a yellow ribbon tied around an old tree--and turn it into a symbol of death and destruction.
E Pleasant Street Sugar Maple in the Public Way
Yes, in the arbor genocide currently taking place throughout Amherst the victims are marked with a yellow ribbon--in some cases resembling the ribbon-like tie that was so popular as a car magnet to support our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Corner Triangle Street and Kellogg Avenue: Red Maple in the Public Way
South East Street Friday
South East Street Saturday
South East Street Friday
South East Street Saturday
The Grim Reaper
UPDATE 7/13/12 Looks like they found some different colored ribbon:
UPDATE (4:45 PM). Okay, it's finally official. Because you can now read the official press release on the town website. About time!
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BREAKING NEWS: (4:00 PM) So I just spoke with Pat Desmarais (apparently the only one left at the LSSE office) and she confirmed the pool will be open Sunday 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM 6:00 PM and it is indeed free, free, free, FREE
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The War Memorial Pool looked ready for a refreshing dive (not that they have a diving board of course) around 5:00 PM this afternoon. Buoys are out, water is clear, new fencing is up all around and the concrete looks uniformly cured. Probably will not open tomorrow, but if town officials wish to reclaim some badly needed credibility then Saturday is a must.
Let's hope they do not wait until 5:00 PM tomorrow to make the announcement.
Meanwhile the "South East Street Massacre" continues unabated. Main Street/Pelham Road is next, and the trees are already starting to quiver.
Amherst Public Shade Tree Committee Chair Hope Crolius, committee member Bob Irwin
In their first meeting since the Amherst Public Shade Tree Committee became a stand alone entity, after 40 years toiling as a subcommittee of the Conservation Commission, Chair Hope Crolius came out swinging, questioning the rubber stamp routine of Tree Warden Alan Snow and the tactics of Town Manager John Musante who recently summoned her to a private meeting to address the "tone" of her committee.
Crolius rattled off a recent list of occasions where the Tree Warden ignored the tree affirming vote of the Shade Tree Committee, including Atkins Corner clearcutting, beautiful black walnuts in front of Hampshire College (that were later spared because of an easement trade by the college to the town) and most recently a huge, healthy 50 year old spruce on Railroad Street he allowed a housing management company that specializes in student rentals to whack for the convenience of a new driveway.
Alan Snow, volunteer Tree Warden and professional DPW manager
Crolius observed that for the previous five years, when not employed by the town, Snow was an outsider who put the trees first; but now that he's wearing a different hat--Division Director, Tree and Grounds Amherst DPW--he is "no longer one of us."
A previous Town Manager appointed Snow to his unpaid position as Tree Warden and of course the current Town Manager is the boss of DPW director Guilford Mooring who oversees Snow.
In a closed door meeting with Town Manager Musante, set up by Conservation Director Dave Ziomek (son of former Tree Warden Stan Ziomek) Crolius described a public relations cheerleading indoctrination session where he strongly suggested the committee "keep it positive," and consider "the big picture."
Musante boasted the town has big things to accomplish, thus the committee should not focus on doing battle for individual trees at UMass or the town owned Hawthorne sugar maples or the stately, rarely seen Camperdown Elm owned by Amherst College.
Ancient but healthy Camperdown Elm Amherst College Pratt Field
Committee member Nonny Burack responded to Crolius's report saying, "I'm very uncomfortable with the Town Manager's comments" and that they amounted to "almost a threat." She also pointed out "developers are going to laugh at you if you're overly positive."
The Public Shade Tree Committee plans to invite Town Manager Musante to attend one of their upcoming open public meetings. Apparently, being summoned to the woodshed works both ways.
Western Mass Electric Company is engaged in "very aggressive tree trimming" near their power lines according to Amherst Shade Tree Committee Chair Hope Crolius, a continuing reverberation of the freak October 30 snowstorm that knocked out power all over New England.
Look out below! (At least they left two trees standing)
Like UMass or New England Central Railroad, WMECO is exempt from local oversight by any town body, so about all our shade tree committee can do is hope for the best...and hug a lot of trees goodbye.
Norway Spruce dead center is now a Dead Tree Standing
So this majestic fifty-year-old Norway Spruce will fall in order to make way for a more conveniently located driveway that routes traffic onto Railroad Street rather than busy College Street (RT9), although since the other end of Railroad Street is blockaded by owners New England Central Railroad, tenants will still have to enter/exit onto busy Rt 9.
Closed end of Railroad Street
Last night the Amherst Shade Tree Committee voted against the removal (3-1-1) of a healthy tree at 166 College Street, however Amherst Tree Warden Alan Snow overruled the committee and allowed the whacking, but with conditions that a "new tree is planted where the old driveway was located and an inch per inch replacement value for
the loss of the healthy public shade tree."
Current driveway 166 College Street, Amherst
Who would have thought--especially in Amherst--shade trees would be traded like public commodities.
Four mighty oaks line west end of Kellogg Avenue (far left one cannot be saved)
Tree Warden Alan Snow will use a borrowed resistometer later this month to test the structural integrity of all the old trees along Kellogg Avenue. But safe to say he has already decided the one closest to Rao's Coffee Shop--subject of a tree hugging Letter to the Editor in last week's Amherst Bulletin--will become kindling before summer turns to fall.
Nobody seems to know exactly when they were planted, but guestimates are almost 100 years ago--so these statuesque specimens are barely middle aged. During the freak October Halloween snowstorm one just down the road came crashing down almost hitting Ann Whalen Apartments, housing elderly, disabled and low income families.
33 Kellogg Ave
Last month Town Meeting approved borrowing $612,000 for 2,000 trees to be planted over the next three years. The cycle of life continues.
Out of 16 pin oaks lining Kellogg Ave, at least three are slated for removal
100-year-old row of quaint New England sugar maples now on Death Row.
After weathering the last 100 years, including the devastating October 29 tree killer snowstorm, a row of majestic sugar maples that have provided shade, oxygen and protection from the wind to generations of agricultural minded citizens is now threatened by the biggest tree killer of all: development.
Even though these trees are outside their jurisdiction, the Amherst Public Shade Tree Committee unanimously endorsed a letter to Town Manager John Musante requesting they "be respected and protected for all present and future members of the Amherst community."
Amherst Town Meeting acquired Hawthorne Farm property for $500,000 to preserve open space, add to our pitifully small stock of affordable housing (the land includes a house and barn) and preserve open space/recreation, although many town meeting members assumed it meant passive recreation.
But soccer parents and politicians who court their votes are quick to rev the bulldozers anytime the town acquires an expensive parcel of property bigger than a breadbasket. Although, turning the rolling topography of Hawthorne into a smooth aircraft carrier quality flatness will require millions of additional tax dollars.
With the closing of Mark's Meadow Elementary School two years ago, Crocker Farm picked up 80 new students and a few more teachers, so now, apparently, it's time to expand the parking lot at a cost of $25,000...although I'm not sure why it needs to expand by 20-25 vehicles.
The current plan is to expand the lower parking lot on the north side of the main access road above and below the current parking oasis for 11 cars. Yes, it would look as though the two maple trees (planted during the 2002 renovation) will become kindling, but Ron Bohonowicz, Director of Facilities, said they may come up with a design to "incorporate them."
After all the trees lost in the unprecedented October 29 snowstorm--a few of them at Crocker Farm--it seems sinful to now whack a couple more, especially on a nice summer day.
Shade Tree Committee Chair Hope Crolius gamely gave a brief presentation/report on the opening night of Amherst Town Meeting, where she acknowledged that "trees are not everybody's favorite part of the ecosystem about now," but implored the legislative body to "keep your faith in trees, despite any havoc they may have wrought on your cars, houses or lawns."
As she retreated from the podium, Town Meeting, uncharacteristically, applauded.
So as you can imagine, she responded cautiously last night as a homeowner on Rosemary Street, a bucolic subdivision in North Amherst built in the mid-to-late 1990s, made a pitch to whack all the healthy Norway Maple trees because they are an "invasive species," and replace them with a presumably tamer "native species."
Committee member Bob Erwin thought, after the recent devastation to our urban tree canopy, this idea was doubly bad: both the timing of this request and the precedent it may set. The seven member Shade Tree Committee took no position but suggested the homeowner poll his neighbors to ascertain their opinions.
The Shade Tree Committee is a sub-committee of the more powerful Conservation Commission, and either committee can make recommendations to the Tree Warden (Alan Snow) who has state authority to remove trees in the public way. Those who disagree and wish to appeal a decision of the Tree Warden can appeal to the Select Board who has final authority over the public ways.
Tree Warden Alan Snow
The town could charge the homeowner $55/diameter inch to have the trees taken down (most are in the 6" to 10" range) by a private contractor, also at his expense. Or if the town likes the idea of clear cutting and replanting a new species, it could all be done at taxpayer expense.
Unless of course they ask the Lorax for an opinion.
