How very sick this place has become. Talk about jumping a shark. Genuine Portland is long gone -- it's now officially Zomblandia. I feel like I'll be moving on before too long now.

An ode to what's been destroyed by the unnecessary killing of that majestic sequoia for a petty bicycle bridge:

In The Forest ~ Van Morrison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnh-3g51cGA

By the sacred grove, where the waters flow
We will come and go, in the forest

In the summer rain, we will meet again
We will learn the code of the ancient ones
In the forest

By the waterfall, I will hold you in my arms
We will meet again by the leafy glade
In the shade of the forest

With your long robes on, we will surely roam
By the ancient roads, I will take you home
To the forest

In the forest, in the forest
In the forest, in the forest

With your long robes on, we will surely roam
By the ancient roads, I will take you home again
To the forest

Satisfy the soul baby
Birds sing all day long of the mother lode
We can let it roll, in the forest

With your long robes on
I know where you're coming from
By the big oak tree you've gotta come and go with me

In the forest, in the forest
In the forest, in the forest

By the waterfall
I will hold you in my arms, and we will meet again
By the leafy shade, in the, in the forest

Satisfy the soul
Birds sing all day long of the mother lode
We can surely let it roll, in the forest

With your long robes on
I know where you're coming from
We will surely roam, down by the ancient roads

"Permits? We don't need no stinking PERMITS...."

Nick Fish: MIA. Remember this when parks comes begging for money and if/when Fish should run for office again. He's a complete waste of city resources and taxpayer dollars. Who's running Parks any way? Nick? Are you out there?

Oh, I'm remiss. Charlie is in charge of Parks currently. Nick just made a mess of Parks for the last few years and was in charge when this plan was developed.

Mayor Charlie Hales had instructed officials with the Parks & Recreation Bureau not to begin cutting down the tree until they had made a full case to the activists about the public process that went into deciding to cut it down.

...not to begin cutting down the tree until...

Charlie could have given orders not to cut the tree period!

http://www.friendsoftrees.org/meet-us/board
He is on the Board of Friends of Trees.

Does anyone still believe that he is a Friend of Trees?

Mojo,
Thank you.
Have you been at Pier Park?
This park is like a heritage park, and the area where the Grand Sequoia's are located like a sacred space.

For the Children:

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

-- Joyce Kilmer

thank you ydinger

It's for the children?....no not so much!
Now the zombie bicyclists rule, I guess.
Tom Mc Call is spinning someplace!

The Mayor doesn't care ... ... he lives in Camas.

Camus....as in pulp mill town. Figures. If I was on the board of Friends of Trees, I'd be pushing Charlie Hales off with a 10-ft sequoia branch.

Charlie isn't a Friend of Trees, he's a booster of the tree industry, who profits by selling little trees. Now, in order to sell tree in Portland (Think coals to Newcastle!), you have to make room for them, by cutting down perfectly healthy, beautiful native species, and substitute spindly deciduous versions.

How Very Eastern USA of us.

Chainsaw has returned!

IMO, anyway.

Charlie is into "smart growth."
Grand trees we have stand in the way of "smart growth."

Remember this as we CONTINUE to see the big trees taken down for the "smart growth" policies of development. Those little trees have to replace our grand trees in order to retain at least some semblance of "green canopy" as they chop chop chop down the character of our city.

How Very Eastern USA of us.
Very Eastern indeed.
Charlie from Virginia, Fish from New York.

We are so into survey's. Would be interesting to see where the majority of the bike lobbyists and their followers come from?

At a loss for words on how idiotic this was. They needed more people, chains, and handcuffs.

If this tree was on private property, with exception of high density development, the City would use ever maneuver within their power and anything in the relatively new tree ordinance to stop the slaughter. But when it comes to constructing infrastructure for freeloader bicyclists, it seems like nothing can stand in the way for these kamikaze riders, – be it a traffic control device, Forest Park or a giant Sequoia - and they didn’t even use a pedal powered chain saw. Bicyclists can now be called tree slayers along with TriMet.

Why in this city do we the people have to continually battle our city?
More people, chains and handcuffs?
No.
One person needed to step up here:
Charlie Hales!

He is in the Mayoral seat right now and he could have shown the people of Portland and of the nation that a Grand Sequoia 120 ft. tall and 18 feet around is significant to save in the City of Portland.
But, let us face it now, clear signal, we are in for it with the likes of Charlie.
He is part of that trio, Katz/Hales/Adams
that became the City that Works us over and over.
6B.
6C.

Hales + Adams + Katz = HAK

You know, the more I think about it, Charlie is new in that Mayoral position, taking charge of all the bureaus now, he could have endeared himself to the people of Portland as something a Mayor could do to stop that project and find another path.

In my opinion, he clearly chose to show us instead just what path he is on. This was his signal to the community the power he has now in command of all the bureaus and how he will wield it. It is sad/scary to think that he cares not if his actions throw a pallor of bad feelings throughout our city.

This is the same City that would not let me *plant* trees, at my expense, to beautify their barren streetscape. That act would have resulted in citations and fines.

Of course they could have found a different solution that didn't involve cutting down grand old trees. The drawback is that those solutions wouldn't put you in your place.

If City Hall doesn't listen to these "core constituencies" of enviro's who seem to run things now, then why the hell would they ever listen to you and me?

Today is not the first day of history. It's time for thinking citizens to begin considering a hometown that isn't committed to slow-motion civic suicide.

Does anybody know who gets the trees once they are removed? There is some good lumber there.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/02/st_johns_residents_fight_propo.html

The 120-foot-tall tree will be repurposed as part of the city's first nature play area in Westmoreland Park

There is an aspect to this that in my view is a final insult to that neighborhood. According to the press, this tree will end up in a nature play area elsewhere, not in St. Johns. How much of the wood will be used in Westmoreland Park?

I noted in the comment section that apparently there were organizations in St. Johns that did know about this. Dennis Keepes for many years was the Chair of the St. Johns Neighborhood Association. I find it interesting they didn’t let him know since he has a history of that park and many years ago was involved along with the community with saving 75 firs and cedars in that Pier Park that were slated to be chopped. Is that why this plan was kept from Keepes and others until just days before they cut the tree?
I think we need to take a closer look at some of these organizations and what plans they decide for the neighborhoods.