Old-growth trees removed to make space for Townhomes development

Last week, Woodinville resident Bethany Williamson and eight others sent an open letter to Mayor Mike Millman asking the city to do more to protect heritage trees after dozens of old-growth trees were removed at the site of the Woodinville Townhomes development at 14312 132nd Ave NE, Woodinville.

“We’re talking 100- to 150-year-old trees. And it just made me sick–why do we have to do that?” Williamson said. “I drive down there and it looks like a mass slaughter. All you saw was these massive trees just cut down, and they're all laying there.”

Williamson said that she and her husband Peter measured the stumps and found that many of the felled cedar and fir trees were three to four feet in diameter.

Old-growth trees play a vital role in the fight against climate change, as they remove CO2 from the atmosphere much more efficiently than any other trees or technology we’ve created. Simply leaving forests intact is one of the most effective ways to fight climate change.

In his response to the open letter, Millman said the trees “were removed to support the realignment of the road intersection, to help alleviate traffic congestion and safety.“ He continued to say, “I agree climate change is the most important issue of the 21st century.”

The city requires developers to leave at least ten percent of existing trees, but Williamson and the others who signed the letter say more must be done.

“This is not good enough as we are in the midst of climate change,” it reads. “We need trees not only to breathe, but to help with the extreme heat we have been experiencing. Trees canopy’s help keep us cool.”

Williamson referred to the heat dome last June, when temperatures in the Pacific Northwest exceeded 100 degrees for three consecutive days, killing an estimated 1,400 people. As the effects of climate change intensify, extreme heat events like the heat dome will become more frequent.

Locally, the effects of extreme heat can be alleviated by leaving forest canopies intact, providing more shaded areas for pedestrians.

Developers often plant nonnative deciduous trees in place of conifers, but these trees provide little value beyond aesthetics.

“All of our native trees are being taken away,” Williamson said. “And these mini trees are not going to give us what we need. They're not planting the native trees because they're not as pretty as the little maples.”

She pointed out that planting new conifers is mostly ineffective, because they take decades to grow large enough to provide a canopy or pull significant amounts of carbon from the air.

Millman noted that the Townhomes developers provided an arborist report before removing the trees, but Williamson said that the city itself should hire an arborist to determine which trees to keep alive.

“We don't have an arborist on staff in Woodinville,” she said. “It is the construction company who is providing an arborist report. And you know where that’s gonna skew.”

Millman noted other efforts the city is pursuing to fight climate change, such as implementing electric car charging stations on city properties and designating the new Woodtrails Park, which will preserve 63 acres of tree canopy.

The signers of the open letter also requested the city consider requiring developers to maintain more than ten percent of trees and start a “Heritage Trees” program, which would ban the felling of older trees.

“I'm not against development–we need housing. I'm aware of that,” Williamson said. “But we need to embrace livability.”