Citizen Comments on: Date Sehome Hill Arboretum View Restoration Proposal # Received Citizen/ Group Updated November 16, 2012 Notes/Status Page 1 of 14 1 10/25/12 Carole Morris I would like to support the view restoration project, if done sustainably, as email sent to presented in the Western Today email to WWU employees today. I miss [email protected] the view and love the hill! I am unable to attend the meeting so would like to give my input now. Thank you! Carole Morris Woodring College of Education [email protected] 2 10/25/12 Pat MacDonald I think it's a good idea to preserve the view. The maples and alders won't be email sent to missed. [email protected] Pat MacDonald [email protected] 3 10/26/12 Andrew Reding I am writing in unequivocal support of the Sehome Hill Tower View email sent to Restoration. [email protected] I am a huge fan of Bellingham Parks, using Whatcom Falls Park and Lake Padden Park and the Whatcom Creek Greenway with great frequency. Sadly, I do not use Sehome Hill Arboretum. But I would like to. What has held me back? I explored Sehome Hill Arboretum a year ago. I was disappointed to find it overgrown and in deep gloom even on a sunny day. The observation tower is a case in point. One goes up there to observe — that is, after all, the WHOLE POINT of the tower. Yet one only sees more forest with only scant hints of the fabulous view that is hidden. One realizes it must have been very different when the tower was built, and the 1980s photos confirm that. The proposed trim will go a long way toward restoring the view from the tower, but in my opinion, not far enough. The aim should be to restore the view as in the 1980s. To give a specific example, please consider removing the Douglas fir between view windows 7 and 8. It blocks a considerable chunk of the view. That in turn raises another question. Why pick on the deciduous red alders and big leaf maples, while sparing the evergreen Douglas firs that set the Citizen Comments on: Date Sehome Hill Arboretum View Restoration Proposal # Received Citizen/ Group Updated November 16, 2012 Notes/Status Page 2 of 14 whole park in year‐round gloom? Douglas firs are not actually the climax species in this part of the Pacific Northwest. That role is performed primarily by western hemlock. Yet once the climax forest is cut, as it was here, it takes centuries for the forest to return to climax. In the meantime, there is an unfortunate tendency for a near monoculture of Douglas fir. I say unfortunate for two reasons: 1) There is nothing gloomier than a monoculture, or even near‐ monoculture Douglas fir forest. It is dark even in daylight. It is monotonous, the opposite of what an arboretum is supposed to be. An arboretum is for people to enjoy a great variety of trees, with at least reasonable amounts of sunlight. By definition, it is a managed forest. 2) I am a wildlife expert and photographer. Although there is some wildlife skulking in the deep shadows at Sehome, it is as nothing compared to what one sees at Whatcom Falls Park, Lake Padden Park, or other parks in the Bellingham City system. The single overriding reason for this is the near monoculture of Douglas fir in the park. In conclusion, this is a very welcome project, but I believe it does not go far enough. The park itself needs selective culling to open up glades of sunlight to boost light levels and biological diversity, and to make it actually seem like what it is advertised to be: an arboretum! Otherwise, perhaps the park should be renamed. Sehome Hill Douglas Fir Reserve, anyone? Andrew Reding York Neighborhood [email protected] 4 10/26/12 Sandy Dentinger To Whom It May Concern: email sent to [email protected] I am unable to attend next Thursday’s meeting regarding the tree removal and trimming in the Sehome Arboretum but I wanted to express my support for restoring the view from the observation tower. The Arboretum Citizen Comments on: Date Sehome Hill Arboretum View Restoration Proposal # Received Citizen/ Group Updated November 16, 2012 Notes/Status Page 3 of 14 is a wonderful green oasis inside the city and the tower provides an awesome panoramic view of the area. The fact that you can see Mt Baker, the San Juan Islands, the Canadian Cascades all from one vantage point is great. Let’s not let that go! Sandy Dentinger [email protected] 5 10/26/12 Judge & Gaye As frequent users of the Sehome Arboretum we fully support tree Godfrey trimming, removal and pruning to enhance the superb views of Bellingham email sent to Bay, the San Juans, the City, and Mount Baker. When we are introducing [email protected] out of town visitors to Bellingham, the Tower is always high on our list, and we have been disappointed by the encroachment of maples and alders over the last few years. It is definitely time to reinstate one of the best views in Bellingham. Thank you, Judge & Gaye Godfrey Samish Hill Neighborhood [email protected] 6 10/30/12 Damian Vines I vote for tree removal and pruning. Not that this is a vote, but the tower is email sent to useless and pointless without a view. The few trees that would have to be [email protected] removed and the little pruning that would be necessary would have no long lasting environmental or wildlife impacts. Please restore the view! Thank you! Damian Vines [email protected] 7 11/01/12 Rosalie Nast I am in full support for the restoration of Sehome Hill views of the city and email sent to surrounding territory. The deciduous trees are obstructing the view and [email protected] many are probably trash trees. The arboretum is a city/university treasure and should be maintained for hiking enjoyment. Rosalie Nast [email protected] Citizen Comments on: Date Sehome Hill Arboretum View Restoration Proposal # Received Citizen/ Group Updated November 16, 2012 Notes/Status Page 4 of 14 8 11/07/12 Geoff Middaugh Dear Sehome Hill Arboretum Advisory Committee and James King, Director Emailed letter to of Parks and Recreation Department, City of Bellingham (COB): [email protected] I would like to emphasize my unequivocal support to the City of Bellingham in its efforts to restore the views for the visitor experience at the top of Sehome Hill. The proposed innovative and careful approach to this restoration is appreciated and I fully support it. Let me make it clear that I am not in support of wholesale cutting of trees just for the sake of removing vegetation. I am in support of careful management of the vegetation so that it enhances the visitor experience, improves the ecological status of the entire arboretum, and favors return of natural‐like conditions, within the limits of current conditions. This proposal meets and addresses my concerns. The revised Sehome Arboretum Master Plan (2002 ?) provides direction to give views consideration and restoration by taking maintenance action on certain vegetation. While I support strongly the inclusion of views as a contribution to the visitor experience in the Arboretum, I believe the characterization in the master plan of the “mature” vegetation is a simplification and a misstatement of actual ecological conditions. While I leave the Master Plan for another day to be updated, I would like to add to the background of landscape dynamics for the overlook restoration effort, and I am proposing a Garry oak restoration pilot project as way to help “maintain” the views, while maintaining the “naturalness” of the overlook area. I offer the following comments in regards to the view restoration and future work that could be accomplished: 1. Prehistory of Sehome Hill: Sehome Hill, before European settlement was part of the highly diverse temperate rain forest of the Pacific Northwest. It was composed of predominantly large, multi‐canopied Douglas‐fir, western red cedar, western hemlock, grand fir and Sitka spruce. This was the dominant vegetation on the landscape; however, it is my opinion that the ridge tops and escarpments included more xeric (dry) species as glades or meadows. Included in dry ecological sites are Garry oaks, arbutus Citizen Comments on: Date Sehome Hill Arboretum View Restoration Proposal # Received Citizen/ Group Updated November 16, 2012 Notes/Status Page 5 of 14 (madronne) and other understory species. Probably, the ridge tops were maintained by fire, as a disturbance element. Fire was not a frequent change agent, probably occurring 1 in 300‐600 years intervals (as compared to landscape change from fire occurring from 600‐1000 year time periods). The picture below (sketched by a young artist on George Vancouver’s crew in 1792), gives an indication that the hillsides and sometimes the ridge tops in the Puget Sound and Vancouver Island areas were sometimes “open” and maintained as open by native people, probably for security reasons, as compared to view reasons. 2. Historical vegetative regimes: European settlement of Bellingham changed everything, as we all know. The harvest of all the large trees, the constant fires that burnt in the residual logging debris left after harvest, and other human uses makes it hard to return to a “native” condition because many ecological conditions have changed. We have plenty of historical photos of Sehome Hill, but one of my favorites I have included. This photo shows the increased growth of deciduous trees, and a “new forest” grows back after the heavy logging of the hill.