Lake Forest Park Woman Losing Battle For Trees -- County Will Cut Row Of 11 Poplars
LAKE FOREST PARK - First to go was a tall cottonwood. It wasn't especially close to Susan Johnson's house; it was just one of dozens of trees in her line of vision when she gazed out toward Lake Washington from her front porch.
Then one day last summer, it was gone. Now Johnson's view is jarred by a power pole garnished with a transformer.
She got mad, and began asking questions of the King County Parks Division, which manages the Burke-Gilman Trail. The missing tree once stood along the trail, in Sheridan Beach just south of Lake Forest Park. It apparently was removed and replaced by a sapling because its roots were threatening to crumble a nearby road.
The answers to her questions created more questions, and now Johnson is fighting to save a stately row of 11 poplar trees along the trail, about two blocks north of the offending cottonwood.
It's a losing battle. This week, Johnson and her neighbors will receive a letter explaining that the trees, which shield the trail from views of Lake Forest Park Towne Centre and Bothell Way, are a public-safety threat and must go.
In Johnson's eyes, the Parks Division is more concerned about potential lawsuits than about trees and trails. The 11 trees to be axed border a blacktop parking lot whose owner sued the county several years ago because the trees' roots are buckling the pavement.
The property owner won his suit, but has not yet fixed the parking lot because he fears the problem will recur as long as the poplars remain, Johnson said.
"I don't think there's a consistent policy that's driving King County Parks to preserve the nature of the trail. I see them responding to possible liability issues," Johnson said. "Who's speaking for the trees . . . ?"
Barbara Wright, manager of the Parks Division, said neighbors have misinterpreted the division's priorities. The trees are to be removed because they pose a public-safety threat, not because the division fears lawsuits, she said.
"The priorities of the parks division are to provide a safe environment for people using public property," she said.
Poplars have shallow root systems, which spread out many feet, Wright said. The poplars to be cut down had sent out roots that damaged the trail as well as the parking lot, she said. The roots beneath the trail were trimmed and the trail repaved, Wright said.
If the roots beneath the parking lot are trimmed down as well, then the tall trees might topple in heavy winds, she said. Trail users and cars traveling on Bothell Way could be struck, she said.
"We've worked with three arborists to try to come up with some sort of creative solution, to try to find if there is any way possible to save the trees," Wright said.
The trees will be cut between Feb. 17 and 28, she said. The trail will be replanted with Sastigiata oaks, European hornbeams and Columnaire maples, she said.