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Efforts Amp Up to Save Ancient Oak Tree in Tumwater

Sep 25, 2024

For Immediate Release                                                                 25 September 2024

 

Contact:

 

·         Brett Clubbe blclubbe@gmail.com  360-970-1272

·         Michelle Peterson, 360 878-7689, michellepeterson.RN@gmail.com  

·         Ronda Larson Kramer, 360 259-3076, ronda@larsonlawpllc.com 

 

Reports and background documents under Media Resources  Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak

Information Links: http://linktr.ee/TumwaterOak

 

 

 

 

Efforts Amp Up to Save Ancient Oak Tree in Tumwater


DATELINE— TUMWATER, WA

Supporters of the Davis Meeker Oak are celebrating recent events and court filings that buoy hopes the ancient oak tree next to what is currently the Olympia Airport will not be cut down by directive of the Mayor of Tumwater.


 “We filed our reply brief in the Court of Appeals on Monday and now anxiously await a decision,” said Ronda Larson Kramer, one of the attorneys for the citizen group that sued to stop the mayor.  “We are expecting a decision within a month or two because it’s on a fast track,” she said.


Michelle Peterson, the group’s spokesperson, said, “We’re excited about our latest legal filings. The reply brief is a powerful rebuke of the mayor’s actions.” She added that the group is also preparing a recall petition to remove the mayor from office. Her term ends in 2025.


The Davis Meeker Oak is an iconic tree that has guided travelers to the South Salish Sea for untold generations. The tree was a guidepost along the historic Cowlitz Trail, an Indigenous trade route between the Columbia River and the Salish Sea. The grand oak welcomed early settler families near the end of the Oregon Trail, marking the termination of the migration across the country.


In late May this year, Tumwater citizens and local Tribal Members leapt into action when it was leaked that the mayor intended to have the landmark tree cut down over the Memorial Day weekend. Community members organized and have been successful in getting a court-supported stay on any action by the city involving the Davis Meeker Oak.


The tree’s supporters have hosted a series of events locally to raise awareness of the plight of the oak and raise money for legal representation. The next event is scheduled for Thursday September 26, 2024. Evergreen Alum, musician David Rovics, will perform songs from his recent European tour and organizers will present an update on the campaign to save the tree.

Funds will be raised through a silent auction for legal fees and attorney costs. All are welcome. The group is accepting tax deductible donations on its website.


The Davis Meeker Garry Oak is located at 7527 Old Highway 99, Tumwater, Washington.


Photo credit: Karen Fraser, 1984, right before the road was moved the first time. Fraser and other then-county commissioners voted to move the road instead of having it cut down as had been requested by the county road department.

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Citizens group wins partial victory for oak tree

Sep 8, 2024

For Immediate Release                                                                      8 September 2024

 

Contact:

 

Michelle Peterson, 360 878-7689, michellepeterson.RN@gmail.com

Ronda Larson Kramer, 360 259-3076, ronda@larsonlawpllc.com

 

Reports and background documents under Media Resources  Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak 

 

Information Links: http://linktr.ee/TumwaterOak

 

 

 

Citizens group wins partial victory for oak tree

DATELINE— TUMWATER, WA

Members of a citizens group fighting to save a healthy 400-year-old Garry oak in Tumwater breathed a sigh of relief on Friday, September 6, as Thurston County Superior Court Judge Anne Egeler ruled mostly in the group's favor.


Staff for Tumwater mayor Debbie Sullivan first alerted the public on February 12 that the Davis Meeker oak would potentially be removed. Months of litigation began on May 24, 2024, when Judge Sharonda Amamilo granted the citizens group a temporary restraining order. Judge Egeler dissolved the TRO on May 31, 2024. The case is now on appeal.


At the hearing on Friday, the citizens group took advantage of a little-known rule on appeal whereby a party can stop a second party from taking action if the first party pays a bond. The first party then gets an automatic stay.


The rule says that even though the case is on appeal, the superior court judge gets to decide the bond amount initially. As a result, the citizens group filed a motion asking Judge Egeler to set the bond at $200. By contrast, the mayor wanted the judge to set the bond at over $10 million, which far exceeded what the group could afford. The judge set it at $10,000.


The mayor also filed a motion asking the judge to award the mayor over $13,000 in legal fees against the group. Judge Egeler denied that motion entirely.


“This is doable,” said the group’s spokeswoman Michelle Peterson. The group will now pay the refundable $10,000 to the court in full.  


“My guess is on Friday the judge realized her original ruling dissolving the TRO in May had been based on multiple misleading statements by the mayor and by the mayor’s attorney,” said Ronda Larson Kramer, one of the attorneys representing Save the Davis-Meeker Garry Oak. "We worked pretty hard over the past two weeks to call those out to the court.”


Larson Kramer said the mayor’s attorney also made misleading statements in his latest briefing. For example, he wrote that the citizens group knew well in advance that the mayor was planning to have the tree cut down but waited until the last minute to file for a temporary restraining order.  


“Luckily, I had great evidence to pull out of my back pocket,” said Larson Kramer. “It was an email I happened to receive when Councilwoman Leatta Dahlhoff had emailed the mayor on Thursday afternoon, May 23rd, and had copied me. She was asking whether the mayor needed the council’s approval for a budget amendment before the tree was cut down," she said.


Larson Kramer said the fact the councilwoman was asking the mayor this question proved that neither the citizens group nor the council knew if the mayor could act independently or not. "Five hours later, I learned at 9 pm that somebody had tipped off one of our group's members about the mayor's plans to cut down the tree that weekend. I filed for a temporary restraining order the next morning,” said Larson Kramer.


She also mentioned that Friday’s favorable ruling by the judge was probably due in large part to the group's new attorney, Bryan Telegin. “His willingness to take on this case was significant for us,” said Larson Kramer, who has been the attorney on the case since the start. “Not only is it like getting a fresh horse on the Pony Express, but he has the needed experience in environmental law that I don’t have,” she said.


To raise money for legal expenses, the citizens group is holding a fundraiser on Sunday and another one on September 26 and is accepting tax deductible donations on its website.


Photo credit: Timothy Duncan, Tumwater.


One of the yard signs the group had made. Photo credit: Ronda Larson Kramer, Olympia.

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Judge to Decide If Tumwater Oak Can Get an Automatic Stay

Sep 2, 2024

For Immediate Release                                                                      2 September 2024

 

Contact:

 

Michelle Peterson, 360 878-7689, michellepeterson.RN@gmail.com

Ronda Larson Kramer, 360 259-3076, ronda@larsonlawpllc.com

 

Reports and background documents under Media Resources  Save the Davis Meeker Garry Oak 

 

Information Links: http://linktr.ee/TumwaterOak

 

 

 

Judge to Decide If Tumwater Oak Can Get an Automatic Stay


DATELINE— TUMWATER, WA


In the fight to save one of the most culturally valued trees in Washington state, the citizen action group that sued the city of Tumwater readies for another court battle involving a 400-year-old Garry oak tree called the Davis Meeker oak.  


Both sides have filed competing motions. “The mayor filed a motion to try to make us pay $13,000 of her legal fees,” said Ronda Larson Kramer, one of the attorneys for the group. “And we filed a motion to try to get an automatic stay of the mayor’s plans to cut down the tree—a stay that would last for the duration of our appeal.”  


The Attorney General’s Office wrote a lengthy letter to the mayor in July telling her that she has to get a permit from the state Department of Archaeology if she wants to do anything to the tree.


The citizen action group discovered through a public records request that soon after the mayor received that letter, her attorney began researching what the monetary and criminal penalties would be for violating the permit requirement.


“When I saw that, it sent chills down my spine,” said Michelle Peterson, the group’s spokesperson. “It suggests that even the law might not be enough to save the tree from the mayor’s determination to cut it down.”


Ray Gleason, a certified arborist who has been working for decades to keep the tree safe said, “Ironically, research by one of the most well-respected tree physicists in the world shows that even strongly hollowed trees can be safer than young intact trees without any defects." Gleason was referring to research by Frank Rinn, a German physicist and tree specialist who invented the Resistograph, which is used worldwide to assess decay in trees. “That research shows that oftentimes, the older a tree gets, the sturdier it gets. But most people think it’s the opposite.”


The City of Tumwater’s arborist issued a report in 2023 concluding that the Davis Meeker oak should be cut down. A company called Tree Solutions helped the city's arborist with that assessment but disagreed so strongly with his conclusion that the company's owner, board certified master arborist Scott Baker, wrote an email to the assistant city attorney to say that the final report was “an embarrassment to any knowledgeable arborist.”


Gleason said, "Scott Baker is one of the fathers of modern-day tree risk assessment methodology. That makes his criticism all the more significant."


The mayor bowed to public pressure on June 4th and promised to get a second assessment. The city has contracted with a new company but the second assessment has yet to be performed.


Meanwhile, an independent risk assessment was done by Paul Dubois of Keyport, Washington, who has 40 years of experience, much of that with oak trees. He concluded that the Davis Meeker oak poses only a moderate risk and it can be made low risk with simple pruning and cabling.


The citizen action group is holding a fundraiser on Sunday and another one on Thursday, September 26, to raise money for legal expenses. Anyone wishing to watch the court hearing on Friday at 9:00 a.m. can do so on Zoom or in person.

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