Thank you for your letter about the Bigleaf maple recently removed from Volunteer Park. We loved this tree and regret having to remove it. Our Senior Urban Forester and his staff had been watching the tree for several years because it had standard Maple trunk rot, most likely Ganoderma or fomes. In all cases we keep trees standing, even those that are diseased, for as long as possible. In recent weeks the maple dropped two large branches, one directly onto a picnic table. Because of the very large event coming up in Volunteer Park the weekend of June 25 and 26, we decided it was time to remove it because it posed a hazard to human life. Photos show that the disease had invaded all of the trunk and the major limbs.
Unlike maples and oaks from the eastern US, native Bigleaf maple is a short-lived species, living for only 100 to 150 years. The fast growth creates a weaker wood which is more susceptible to decay and breakage. Unfortunately this fast growth and rapid decay is more common in urban areas. That decay reduced the value of the wood considerably, but we may be able to salvage a portion of the burl wood through our carpentry shop.
The tree will be replaced with a larger than usual replacement, an oak about six inches in diameter.
Parks and Recreation is dedicated to increasing our tree canopy in Seattle. The forested areas in parks is about 850 acres, and our park system is home to about 1.5 million trees.
We remove trees only if they are deemed by our Senior Urban Forester, a certified arborist, to pose a danger, or if removal is called for in a park plan that has gone through a thorough public involvement process. For every tree we must remove, we plant more than one to replace it.
Thank you for your concern and for taking the time to write.
Kenneth R. Bounds
Superintendent, Seattle Parks and Recreation