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Riverbend mobile homeowners protest removal of more than 100 trees, many taller then 40 feet -

Please, please, please, PLEASE dont cut down my pine tree. I just want to be able to sit on my deck and enjoy it till I croak. I love my pine tree. 🙁 I never ask anyone for anything. I just want my beloved pine.

So wrote Riverbend Mobile Home Park community member Gabrielle St. John, 65, in a sign she tied to a 40-foot-tall Douglas fir when chainsaws began passing by her home along Highway 212/224 this month to chop down more than 100 trees. The tree in front of her house is technically not hers; the manufactured-home park owns all the property and leases it to people with mobile homes.

Riverbend is able to legally remove 159 trees throughout the manufactured-home park that has about 200 families because the trees were deemed unhealthy or because they pose a concern for safety due to large limb failures that could result in property damage in the future. Many of the trees were between 20 and 50 feet tall.

No formal permit was required because the trees were either unregulated or exempt from current Clackamas County regulations. County staff concluded there were no previous or underlying landscaping plans or requirements for the manufactured-home park, so the only trees of concern to the county were 12 Doug firs proposed to be removed within the environmentally sensitive areas within the Clackamas Rivers Habitat Conservation Area (HCA).

Because arborist Jon Poteet of Northwest Tree Specialists identified that those trees pose a concern for safety due to recent large limb failures that resulted in property damage, removal of those trees constitutes an Exempt Use within the HCA per Ordinance Subsection 706.04(P), wrote senior planner Steve Hanschka, a certified floodplain manager for the county.

Riverbend Mobile Home Community is managed by Cal-Am Properties, where a representative declined to comment for this story. According to Cal-Ams arborists report submitted to Clackamas County, the management company proposed to mitigate for the tree removal by planting six 6-foot-tall Western red cedars and six 6-foot-tall Douglas firs in the northeast sector of the site, near the Clackamas River.

Although some local residents were happy with the removal of problematic trees, St. John and her neighbor, Korin Richards, saw themselves as part of a neighborhood revolt. Several other Riverbend residents tied or chained signs to trees near their homes after Cal-Am sent out a 24-Hour Notice of Intent to Enter Upon Premises on Dec. 1 for trimming and/or removing trees before Dec. 30.

They advertise community, but theres no communication, and everyone Ive talked with moved here because of the trees, Richards said. Our home values have gone down, theres more sound from the highway, the air quality is going to be terrible, and this is not being handled well. Even if its legal, I dont think its right, and I think we have to work so this doesnt happen in the future.

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Logging sparks 'neighborhood revolt'

Improving replacement tree planting and survival rates, and better protecting the city's heritage trees, are three of the priorities for proposed changes to Menlo Park's heritage tree ordinance.

The changes, compiled by a three-member subcommittee drawn from the Environmental Quality Commission, would impose financial penalties on property owners for failing to plant replacement trees after removing heritage trees, according to the staff report.

The subcommittee suggested fines of $1,200 or more for failing to plant replacements. People who don't get permits before cutting down heritage trees would see fines of at least $10,000. The city currently has a $5,000 fine for removing a heritage tree without a permit.

Property owners unable to plant replacement trees on their own land would have the option to pay $800 toward planting two replacement trees on city property.

"Currently, we have data on how many trees were required as replacements but we do not collect data that documents how many were planted," said Environmental Programs Manager Heather Abrams. The current heritage tree ordinance doesn't clearly define how the planting of replacement trees is enforced, she said.

Right now enforcement only happens when a property owner asks for a site review or the tree removal is associated with a building permit that requires review under the water efficient landscape ordinance, according to Ms. Abrams.

The subcommittee also recommended improving public outreach about the replacement tree process via mailers and the city's website, and by placing logos on brochures and advertisements to make sure prospective real estate buyers know that Menlo Park has a heritage tree ordinance.

As for existing heritage trees, the subcommittee has proposed a three-year moratorium on further building permits for a given site if a heritage tree has already been cut down to accommodate a new project.

Other procedural suggestions include incorporating the Environmental Quality Commission during preliminary review of new development proposals that might entail heritage tree removal and adding a fee to construction permits that could be reduced or waived if the project will retain heritage trees.

The Environmental Quality Commission will review the proposed changes on Wednesday, Dec. 17. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at city hall, located in the Civic Center at 701 Laurel St. The City Council will decide at a future meeting whether to follow the commission's final recommendations.

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Menlo Park: Proposals aim to improve heritage tree enforcement

Mary Esther, Florida (PRWEB) December 16, 2014

Public service is very important to Backridge Tree Service, and giving back to the community is part of their business model. Certified Arborist and Backridge Tree Service President Rob Calley carried on that tradition by volunteering at a local middle school as a science fair judge on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

Calley judged plant science for sixth, seventh and eighth graders.

"These kids have really put in a great effort and their projects are a pleasure to judge, said Calley. You can really appreciate how much hard work they put in."

Certified Arborist Travis Morales is also contributing to the local community. He has been invited by North American Training Solutions (NATS) to teach at a three-day climbing/safety course in Orlando on Dec. 10, 11 and 12.

NATS is one of the leading arboricultural training groups in the nation and only a very select, handpicked few get the opportunity to work for them. Morales selection reflects great credit upon him, Backridge Tree Service, and the greater Fort Walton Beach area.

"I am so incredibly proud of Travis, said Calley. He has worked his tail off for years, and to be recognized by such a renowned outfit like NATS is beyond words."

About the company: Backridge Tree Service, Inc. is a specialty tree company serving residential, commercial and municipal customers in the Florida panhandle. The company was founded in 1998. Backridge Tree Service concentrates on tree pruning and trimming, tree preservation, and tree removal, but they also provide stump grinding, tree installation, tree health care, and any other tree-related needs. All of their tree pruning and tree removal jobs are supervised by their professional arborists. They currently have three full-time ISA Certified Arborists on staff, Rob Calley, Travis Morales, and David Whitley. For more information about Backridge Tree Service, contact the company today by calling 850-939-8533 or visit their website at http://www.backridgetreeservice.com/.

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Backridge Tree Service Arborists Active in Community and Industry

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Country Custom Tile Installation Contractor. Jacksonville ...

By KEN LARSON Contributing writer

Stephen Sandau works hand-in-hand with the gas anti oil companies providing a valuable service.

"Think of our Company as a liaison between land management of the 'Tribe and tile gas and oil companies."

Sandau's company survey's areas that have been selected for drilling to make sure there are not any fossils being disturbed. The process is necessary in order for permits to be granted.

There are three professional consulting agencies at every site: paleontologists are looking for fossils 10,000 years or older, archeologists are examining the area 10,000 years and forward, and biologists are examining the area to make sure that no endangered species are being disturbed. `Once these companies report on their findings the permitting process can continue.

In order toy work on public lands, these drilling companies must meet certain requirements and "ensure that they're not disturbing things that are of interest to people. Like archeological sites or dinosaur bones," says Sandau.

As a consultant, lie searches the areas around potential drilling and pipeline sites to make sure they are clear of artifacts, fossils and habitats. If anything of significance is found around the proposed work site, a company may need to re-route a pipeline or move to a different drill site.

He says he is finding that the gas and oil companies he is working closely with are very environmentally conscious and not only are required to follow procedures, but often take additional steps to minimize their footprint in the area.

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Part of energy production is delving into the past

OAKLEY -- An automatic indoor sprinkler system kept a fire at an apartment complex for seniors from spreading, and fire personnel were able to evacuate residents before anybody was seriously injured, a fire chief said.

Two residents were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene but refused hospital treatment after the fire Monday at the Oaks Apartments complex at 59 Carol Lane, said Chief Hugh Henderson of the East Contra Costa Fire District. Fire crews were called to the blaze at 4:18 p.m. and found light smoke coming from a hallway in the complex, he said.

Several tenants were out of the complex or evacuating when fire crews arrived, Henderson said. Fire crews assisted those who needed help, he said.

Automatic sprinklers kept the fire contained to one room within a unit, Henderson said, and the water from the sprinklers damaged six other units, as well as an electrical room, a computer room, two bathrooms and a community room.

Henderson said investigators have not determined how the fire started.

Contact Rick Hurd at 925-945-4789 and follow him at Twitter.com/3rderh.

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Oakley: Senior apartment complex burns, but sprinklers keep fire from spreading

OAKLEY -- An automatic indoor sprinkler system kept a fire at an apartment complex for seniors from spreading, and fire personnel were able to evacuate residents before anybody was seriously injured, a fire chief said.

Two residents were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene but refused hospital treatment after the fire Monday at the Oaks Apartments complex at 59 Carol Lane, said Chief Hugh Henderson of the East Contra Costa Fire District. Fire crews were called to the blaze at 4:18 p.m. and found light smoke coming from a hallway in the complex, he said.

Several tenants were out of the complex or evacuating when fire crews arrived, Henderson said. Fire crews assisted those who needed help, he said.

Automatic sprinklers kept the fire contained to one room within a unit, Henderson said, and the water from the sprinklers damaged six other units, as well as an electrical room, a computer room, two bathrooms and a community room.

Henderson said investigators have not determined how the fire started.

Contact Rick Hurd at 925-945-4789 and follow him at Twitter.com/3rderh.

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Oakley: Senior apartment complex burns but sprinklers keep fire at bay

RosettaStudyShedsLightonBirthofOceans
Direct measurements of the water contained on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the Rosetta spacecraft suggest that it was asteroids that brought most of th...

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RosettaStudyShedsLightonBirthofOceans - Video

108 Ambulances limited to sheds with negligence of government officials - Warangal
People from Warangal district are in concern with no facilities of 108 ambulance services with the negligence of government. The officials says that this is due to lack of diesel the vehicles...

By: V6 News Telugu

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108 Ambulances limited to sheds with negligence of government officials - Warangal - Video

Winter walk talking about sheds, habitat, lichens

By: Kellie Nightlinger

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