That's pretty weird. I wonder why a private party, like that, is hanging signs on a tree which is on City property? Contribute? Isn't that what taxes are in the first place?

Of course volunteers and cash donations are needed.

City revenue is busy doing other things.

This is what happens when incompetent, dishonest fools run a city.
And nitwits keep electing them simply because they are left wingers and that's enough.

you call them nitwits i say this is the norm in our state. just look at our officials in salem for the last 30yrs. i hope we have learned that TAXHAUBER is ready to keep on keeping on. or can a leopard change its spots? (i dont think so)

This "anti-incumbent thing" seems to start a lot of conversation. I wonder if it will have the legs to reach November.

I believe that, since the trees are in the parking strip, the homeowner is responsible for their maintenance. The Save Our Elms group has done heroic work in fighting Dutch Elm disease, and I would guess has been a great resource for homeowners with elms on their property.

I think some of these trees should be allowed to die with dignity.

Species protection is anti-evolution. Discuss.

It is the responsibility of the homeowners to maintain the trees because they are in the parking strip. There are lots of Dutch Elms in Ladd's and SE neighborhoods that homeowners want to maintain. So they pay out of pocket to innoculate them. In fact, the City would prefer the trees to come down - they interfere with the powerlines and sidewalks. That is why the City restricts what trees can be planted in the parking strips. Dutch Elms, Silver Maples, etc. are not on the City's approved list.

That's odd, I had a city worker banging on my door at 07:30 pm a couple of days ago and she asked me if I wanted to participate in a program that would plant some trees on my parking strip. Of course I said no thanks, the sewer is right under there and who needs sidewalk damage. Not to mention the cost the city would charge me.

If this is indeed a real threat, it must be addressed. New Haven, Connecticut, known still as the Elm City, lost all of its beautiful Elm Trees to this disease. No joke.

The huge elms on NE 26th (NE 27th?), north of Fremont, were inoculated about a decade ago. Perhaps our intrepid blogger could stroll over there, check out the trees, talk with the homeowners -- some of whom might have been there at the time -- and add more information to this discussion?

Steve Wonder, was your evening caller a city worker or a cultist from Friends of Trees? Was there any mention of the leaf tax the alleged, divisive mayor has been planning?

I don't think you need to worry about the leaf tax. That one's clearly a violation of Measure 5 -- they won't even try it.

On 26th, north of Fremont, the story of the elms is actually crazier than that. As I recall, it was on that street that a city crew, while installing unnecessary new curbs, killed quite a few classic elms in the mid-'80s. Dutch Elm disease is bad, but nothing's deadlier than the City of Portland when it's acting stupid -- which is a lot of the time.

Concur with D. Cultivars and clones of naturally-selected disease resitant elm trees are becoming widely available. Restoring tree stock with those is sustainable (yuck, I hate using that word) whereas saving the vulnerable is a losing battle. I've seen landscapes where hundreds of elms were completely wiped out nicely re-forested over four decades (typically with local native species). Of course, if it is your tree and you want to save it, be my guest.