This white oak, photographed Aug. 22, was one of the biggest trees in Albany.
A big old white oak, maybe one of the biggest in Albany, had to come down after being damaged last winter, and this week it did.
Part of the tree, in the back yard of 1811 Salem Ave. S.E., came crashing down as the result of the ice storm on the weekend of Valentine’s Day. A giant limb broke off and crushed the house below.
Rick Barnett, the parks department maintenance and facilities manager who doubles as the city forester, said at the time that the rest of the tree would likely have to be taken down as well.
He said it was probably one of the largest trees in the city before a big part of it broke off in February, “but because it failed it will fail again.”
So the homeowner had no choice but to have it removed. She got a city permit to fell the oak, and this week the job was done.
I went by there on the bike on Sunday, as the photo above shows. When I passed by again on Tuesday night, the tree was gone, as you can see below. (hh)
Just a gap in the skyline was left on Tuesday evening.
This was what the lower part of the oak looked like on Feb. 21.
I comment in this column often about oaks. I am a botanist with a government agency. White oaks are in dramatic decline in the Willamette Valley and have been removed down to only 5% of their historic range. Oaks in general, across the US, provide the most significant bird habitat. The dramatic heat wave this summer also revealed that climate change will start to alter the Douglas-Fir landscape of Oregon that we have come to love, and oaks, particularly Quercus garryanna, are resilient to heat. For future generations, oaks are the trees that have the capacity to carry on. These arbors need our help.
White oaks, black oaks, red oaks.
Can’t we all just be oaks?
I planted two white oaks in my yard last fall. Perhaps we’ll add another this fall to make up for this unfortunate one. Hopefully someone will appreciate their being there long after we’re gone.