Pitch: The Battle Over Seattle’s Trees

Seattle is losing trees faster than it can replant them. A major overhaul of the so-called Tree Ordinance in July was supposed to address it, but critics say the new rules just make it easier for developers to cut down the largest trees in the city’s dwindling canopy. Others say that those trying to protect the trees are NIMBYs opposed to building affordable housing, which the city (and region) desperately needs. A 2021 City of Seattle canopy study found that the city lost 255 acres of tree canopy since 2016. This has major implications for a city, and a region, dealing with the effects of climate change. Most of the trees being cut down are 50-100 years old and are on property with single-family homes that are purchased to be torn down and have townhomes built in place. 

There’s a loose coalition of tree activists called Tree Action Seattle who take a multi-pronged approach to saving the trees. They advocate and picket at Seattle City Council Meetings, they write letters to local politicians, and they try to put themselves in between the chainsaw and trees destined for removal, quite literally. For the month of July, an activist calling himself Droplet lived full time in a double-trunk cedar in Seattle’s Wedgewood neighborhood. Because of this, the tree, now named Luma and recognized as a landmark and “culturally modified tree” recognized by the Snoqualmie Tribe, was saved from being cut down and the developers changed their plan.

Activists gathered around another tree, an 80-year-old fir about a mile north of Luma, as the chainsaws started up, but after Seattle Police officers and representatives from the city’s Department of Construction and Inspection arrived at the scene and verified the validity of the developers’ permit, the tree was cut down. “I’m not a tree activist,” Sarah Haynes, who lives down the street from the fir, said, “I care about climate change, I care about trees, but I’ve never been involved with this group.” But seeing the tallest tree in her neighborhood start to come down was too much. She was overcome with tears, screaming “It’s not fair” as the tree came down.