News | Davis-Meeker Garry Oak

Large Branch Falls from Historic Oak in Windstorm; Arborist Says Failed Portion Had Been Identified for Load-Reduction Pruning

Sep 25

Updated: 1 day ago

The photo shows the fallen branch of solid, healthy wood that is perhaps 300 years old. Photo take September 29, 2026 by Tanya Nozawa.

TUMWATER, Wash. — A large branch from the historic Davis Meeker oak broke today during a windstorm. An arborist familiar with the tree said wind gauges at the adjacent Olympia Regional Airport recorded gusts of 54 mph within the same hour as the failure. No one was injured, no vehicles were damaged, and the oak's main structure remained standing.

The failure occurred on the southwest portion of the tree, an area specifically addressed in the February 7, 2025 advanced tree risk assessment prepared for the City of Tumwater by Todd Prager & Associates.

On page 20, the report recommends reduction pruning to reduce branch-failure risk and states: “For the southwest stem, emphasize length reduction on branches with poor attachments.”

Jesse Brighten, a Board-Certified Master Arborist in Island County, said the connection between today's failure and the recommended management is significant.

“The portion of the tree that failed was specified for ‘load reduction pruning’ to mitigate failures such as this,” Brighten said. “Rick Till’s recommendations in the February 2025 Prager arborist report detailed pruning methods intended to increase structural stability at large unions such as the one that broke during today’s unusually high winds.” Brighten noted that the oak was still in leaf, increasing the wind load on its crown.

“Any tree can fail when loading exceeds wood strength,” he said. “Hopefully the recommended pruning can now be done in a timely manner because nearby portions of the tree have suddenly been exposed to new wind loads.”

Brighten also noted that injuries to ancient trees can create wildlife habitat, including cavities like the one used by kestrels in the Davis Meeker oak. “We need to learn how to manage large, imposing trees more holistically and allow for their ecological benefits by changing management expectations and approaches,” he said.

Prager's 2025 assessment recommended retaining the approximately 400-year-old oak while actively managing identified risks through reduction pruning, supplemental support where appropriate, root-zone management and continued monitoring.

Although the litigation has concluded, Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak continues to seek tax-deductible contributions to help retire the significant legal expenses incurred in protecting this historic landmark. Click here to donate.

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Timeline:

· May 16, 2023: Branch drops onto dirt next to the base of the tree.

· March 21, 2024: Mayor asks city historic commission to de-list the tree from the historic register.

· April 18, 2024: After discussing it over the course of two meetings, Historic Commission declines mayor’s request to remove tree from city’s historic register.

· May 21, 2024: City Attorney calls the situation an “emergency” and tells city council that therefore Tumwater’s Historic Preservation Ordinance does not require Historic Preservation Commission approval before the tree may be removed.

· May 23, 2024 (Thursday): Mayor sends email announcing that a memorial for the tree will be held on May 30, 2024. Anonymous person informs member of Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak that the mayor has scheduled removal of the tree for Tuesday morning after the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend.

· May 24, 2024 (Friday): Judge Sharonda Amamilo grants emergency temporary restraining order, preventing the scheduled removal of the tree at the end of that weekend.

· May 31, 2024: Judge Anne Egeler dissolves the temporary restraining order.

· June 4, 2024: Public testimony and city council persuade Mayor Sullivan to obtain a second arborist opinion before removing the tree.

· July 2024: Washington Court of Appeals stays proceedings while the parties seek a supersedeas stay in superior court.

· September 2024: Judge Egeler sets a $10,000 supersedeas bond after rejecting the mayor’s request for a $10 million bond and approximately $58,000 in attorney fees; Krag Unsoeld posts the bond, preserving the stay during the appeal.

· February 7, 2025: Todd Prager & Associates completes a Level 3 Advanced Tree Risk Assessment commissioned by the City. After climbing inspection, sonic tomography at eight locations, root-crown excavation and other analysis, the assessment found all but one assessed tree part to be low risk and one moderate risk over the three-year assessment period. It identified retention and active management as a reasonably prudent alternative to removal, including “reduction pruning to reduce risk of branch failure.” For the southwest stem, the report specifically directed: “emphasize length reduction on branches with poor attachments.”

· July 2025: Washington Court of Appeals holds that Tumwater’s Historic Preservation Ordinance requires Historic Preservation Commission approval before the mayor may remove the tree.

· December 2025: Judge Egeler enters a permanent injunction implementing the Court of Appeals’ decision.

· July 16, 2026: Judge Egeler enters an agreed order declaring that approval from the Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation is also required under RCW 27.53.060.

· September 25, 2026: A large branch from the southwest portion of the oak failed during a windstorm while the tree was still in leaf. No injuries or vehicle damage occurred. Arborist Jesse Brighten said airport wind gauges recorded gusts of 54 mph within the same hour as the failure and that the failed portion was among those identified for load-reduction pruning in the February 2025 assessment.

Diagram from February 2025 risk assessment by Todd Prager & Associates

Photo by Tanya Nozawa soon after the branch came down in a storm on September 25, 2026.

Oak Case Concludes with Court Declaration Protecting Tree Under State Law

Jul 29

Updated: Jul 29

Tumwater, WA — July 29, 2026 — A two-year legal effort to protect the historic Davis Meeker oak concluded on July 16, 2026, when a Thurston County Superior Court judge entered an agreed order stating: “The Court declares that the Mayor of the City of Tumwater may not alter or destroy the historic Davis Meeker oak without first obtaining the approval of the Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation as provided in RCW 27.53.060.”

The declaration means that future mayors—not just the current administration—are legally required to obtain state approval before altering or destroying the historic tree.

The approximately 400-year-old tree has long been recognized as a landmark on the historic Cowlitz Trail, an Indigenous trade route connecting the Columbia River with South Puget Sound. In the mid-1800s, settlers traveling north from the Oregon Trail also used this route. The tree now stands on Old Highway 99 next to the Olympia Regional Airport.

2023 Risk Assessment

In May 2023, a branch dropped from the tree and landed almost entirely on the dirt next to Old Highway 99. This began an internal discussion about removing the tree. The mayor hired arborist Kevin McFarland, who wrote in an internal email that the tree did not pose a high risk but that more assessment was needed. He contracted with another company to undertake such further assessment, and that company recommended retaining the tree. But McFarland’s final report stated that the tree was high risk, and he recommended removal. This prompted the owner of the subcontracted company to write that McFarland’s report was an “embarrassment to any knowledgeable arborist.”

Historic Commission Stands Firm

Almost a year after the branch dropped, then-Mayor Debbie Sullivan asked the city’s Historic Commission to de-list the tree from the city’s Register of Historic Places. The commission received substantial public comment against delisting and spent considerable time over the course of two meetings in March and April 2024 debating the issue. Ultimately, the commission declined to remove the tree from the historic register.

City Attorney Karen Kirkpatrick then told the city council that the mayor did not need the Historic Commission’s permission to remove the tree because it was an emergency, despite the fact that it had by then been over a year since the branch had fallen. The mayor sent an email informing city staff that a memorial for the tree was scheduled for May 30, 2024. “This is a sad time for our community,” the mayor wrote.

2024 Emergency Lawsuit

The mayor scheduled the tree to be cut down on the Tuesday morning after Memorial Day weekend in 2024. The mayor had not publicly disclosed the timing of the planned removal, however. Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak received an anonymous tip from a good Samaritan only 15 hours before the Friday morning court deadline for seeking emergency relief before the Memorial Day weekend. The group filed its request for a temporary restraining order just minutes before that deadline expired.

Ronda Larson Kramer, who at the time was the only member of the group who was an attorney, said, “I spent all night researching the law because this wasn’t my area of expertise. I barely got the papers to the court in time, and Judge Sharonda Amamilo granted our request for a temporary restraining order. Without her order, that tree would be gone today.”

Restraining Order Is Dissolved

Seven days after Judge Amamilo granted the restraining order in May 2024, Judge Anne Egeler granted the mayor’s request to dissolve it.

After the restraining order was dissolved, at a historic June 4, 2024, Tumwater City Council meeting many people gave hours of public testimony urging the mayor to obtain a second opinion regarding the tree’s health. The meeting continued late into the evening. Written and oral testimony came from Cowlitz Tribe elders, the Nisqually Tribe, Tumwater Historic Commission members, Tumwater City Councilmembers, arborists, and community members.

In the end, Mayor Sullivan responded to public pressure and agreed to obtain a second arborist’s evaluation. That second opinion, prepared by Todd Prager & Associates, concluded that the tree presented a moderate risk rather than a high risk.

Appeal Preserves the Tree

By then, Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak had recruited environmental attorney Bryan Telegin to assist with the legal case. He and Larson Kramer appealed Judge Egeler's order dissolving the temporary restraining order. While the appeal was pending, the Washington Court of Appeals directed the parties to seek a stay of the superior court’s order by posting an appeal bond.

Then-Mayor Sullivan, through attorney Jeff Myers, asked the superior court to require Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak to post a $10 million bond and to pay approximately $58,000 in attorney fees as conditions of obtaining the stay. Judge Egeler denied those requests and instead set the bond at $10,000.

Krag Unsoeld, who was elected to the Port of Olympia Commission while the case was still pending, posted the bond on behalf of the group. That allowed the stay to remain in effect throughout the appeal, preventing the tree from being removed while the Court of Appeals considered the case.

During the litigation, the parties also disputed whether the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibited removal of the tree while a nesting pair of American kestrels was raising chicks in a cavity in the tree. Although that issue ultimately became moot after the chicks fledged, it was another factor preventing the tree’s immediate removal.

American kestrels have been seen nesting in the tree every year since. Raptor specialists have noted that kestrels often return to the same nesting site year after year, with that behavior perhaps continuing down through the generations.

Because the tree is on the city’s historic register, Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak had also argued that Tumwater’s Historic Preservation ordinance required the mayor to obtain a permit from the city’s Historic Preservation Commission before the mayor could have the tree removed.

The Washington Court of Appeals agreed. Judge Egeler later granted a permanent injunction on that basis. Mayor Sullivan did not run for re-election.

Final Resolution

The Court of Appeals left open the question of whether the mayor also needed approval under the state archaeology statute. The parties later asked Judge Egeler to enter an agreed order confirming that, in addition to approval from the City’s Historic Preservation Commission, the mayor must also obtain approval from the Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.

With entry of that order on July 16, 2026, the litigation concluded. The legal protections safeguarding one of Thurston County's most historically significant trees are now firmly established.

The group thanks the many community members, the JOLT News, Western Wildlife Outreach, the Nisqually Tribe, Cowlitz Tribe elders, Tumwater Historic Commission members, Tumwater City Councilmembers (including Leatta Dahlhoff, who has since become mayor), Representatives Beth Doglio and Dan Griffey, arborists, journalists, biologists, donors, and the judges and court staff who ensured the legal issues received a full and fair hearing. Their efforts over the past two years helped preserve the tree.