Request to Baton Rouge DPW

Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 3:03 PM
To: 'William Daniel'; 'Steve Shurtz'; 'jsnow@consultssa.com'; 'John Carpenter'
Cc: 'rallen@theadvocate.com'
Subject: RE: RSVP: Point of Possible Agreement? Staring Lane Widening

Thank you for your feedback!

Can you identify which of the eleven registered live oaks along Staring Lane have been selected to be saved and what measures are in place to ensure their protection?

Can you also provide me with the names of the nine members of the Tree & Landscape Commission, and their dates of appointment? 

ISA-Certified Arborist at Department of Public Works

From: William Daniel [mailto:WDaniel@brgov.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 11:07 AM
To: Steve Shurtz; 'jsnow@consultssa.com'; John Carpenter
Subject: Re: RSVP: Point of Possible Agreement?

We have at DPW Mr. Steve Shurtz. Mr Shurtz is exceptionally qualified to inspect and make decisions regarding the oaks, and he has spent a significant amount of time on the job. His qualifications are as follows:

Louisiana licensed arborist (#11-0357)

International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborist (#SO-1633)

Member, ISARegistered Landscape Architect (#11-0218)

Member, American Society of Landscape Architects

Twice president of the Society of Municipal Arborists

President – Louisiana Urban Forestry Council (LUFC)

Trustee – American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)

Member- National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council (NUCFAC)

Member – Vibrant Cities & Urban Forests Task Force (USDA/Forest Service & New York Restoration Project)

Former Adjunct Professor – LSU School of Landscape Architecture

Despite you assertions otherwise, we have spared no effort to protect all the trees possible. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

William Daniel

Note to EBR Public Work Department and the Mayor

Have you brought in an ISA-certified arborist experienced with mature live oaks to design protection for those trees scheduled to be saved?  Can you provide the name of this individual?  We would like some assurance directly from him, if possible.  Can you tell me which of the eleven registered live oaks, if any, have been scheduled to be saved?

Perhaps we can at least agree on protecting those live oaks you have deemed worth saving.

At Least Let Us Try to Adequately Protect the Trees Scheduled to be Saved

From: Strhlfrst@aol.com
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:16:46 -0400
Subject: Re: http://staring-oaks.blogspot.com/2011/03/encouragement-from-office-of.html
To: saveNoak@hotmail.com

    From the previous postings on your blog site,

http://staring-oaks.blogspot.com/2011/03/encouragement-from-office-of.html,

it appears that there is little room left for review or renegotiation. The project is underway, some of the trees already have been destroyed beyond their capacity for recovery, and others might or might not become involved. The time to act probably has passed regarding the project in general. However, bringing in an ISA-certified arborist experienced with mature live oaks to help design protection for the trees scheduled to be saved would be very worthwhile.

    I'm sorry this did not work out better for your neighborhood oaks. 

Guy S.

_______________ 

Encouragement from an Officer of the International Oak Society

  From: Strhlfrst
  Sent: 03/20/2011 12:55 PM EDT
  Subject: Re: Registered Baton Rouge LA Live Oaks Threatened

    Each governmental entity makes its own rules. The main protection offered by membership in LOS is the assurance that a tree has been recognized under standard and nationally consistent review criteria as something special and worthy of efforts to preserve it. Unless Baton Rouge, the State of Louisiana, or some other local entity has enacted a tree preservation ordinance incorporation LOS status, that membership does not provide legal standing. Nonetheless, LOS recognition carries considerable weight with the public and the press, and their chairman, Mrs. Coleen Landry, has fought some surprisingly successful battles against those who would needlessly destroy great trees.

    I would suggest working with her to identify some options to bring this problem before the people. Make use of the membership status of the trees to reinforce your assertions that the trees are extraordinary, seek help from local/state organizations and media outlets, and seek help from potentially sympathetic public officials.  

    There are many people in Baton Rouge who appreciate and treasure the old live oaks there. While I personally know only a few, they could place you in touch with others. Seek that help from people such as Cary Saurage ( CaryII@aol.com) and Jill Rehn ( JRehn92471@aol.com). Contact the folks at LSU for additional help or referrals. Speak with your local garden club. Keep working with Rebecca Allen. Form a neighborhood association for the trees, enlisting those whose trees or views would be affected. Seek a legal injunction pending further analysis. 

    Good luck -- I find it sad that so many of us must drop other work to fight such battles, but I do it often and I do win a fair portion of those fights, so hang in there. 

Guy S.

Guy Sternberg
Starhill Forest Arboretum of Illinois College
12000 Boy Scout Trail
Petersburg, IL 62675 (USA)
1-217-632-3685
Guy@StarhillForest.com
http://www.starhillforest.com/

    

Comments to William Daniel, Acting Director of Public Works

The pre-design phase should have identified the 1.9 mile Staring Lane section between Highland Road and Perkins Road as unacceptable for expansion activities.  As you describe events, your design team made a decision to proceed, then looked at the environmental impact.

The lower section of Staring Lane IS within the Highland Road Urban Design Overlay District. 

As you state, the Staring Lane Expansion is a local project on a local (EBR) right-of-way versus being a state project on a state right-of-way.  You also mention the EBR Unified Development Code is composed of ‘recommendations’ not ‘requirements’.  Choosing not to adopt these recommendations because you can is not a sufficient explanation to neighborhood residents.  Why would our city government not follow environmental protections felt to be important by the state government, especially ones listed as recommendations in city code?   A ‘should’ should be followed if at all possible…not just when convenient. 

I seriously doubt many, outside of city government, would agree with your assessment that the Green Light group has “done a good job of protecting as many trees as possible on the Staring Lane project”.

The Green Light project was voted on by taxpayers quite a long time ago, before the recent economic outfall.  The cost is staggering (construction amount $26.5M, present cost $43.3M).  It should have been brought back before the taxpayers before starting this phase.  It was already acknowledged the project  highly overestimated future traffic demands in this area: 24000 cars per day in 2019, 38687 cars per day in 2030.  Sometimes you just need to cut your losses and walk away from a project.

Can you provide me with the names of the nine members of the Tree & Landscape Commission, and their dates of appointment?  Thank you.

Input from Acting Director of Public Works (3/18/11)

From: William Daniel [mailto:WDaniel@brgov.com]
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2011 5:44 PM
Subject: RE: Eleven Oaks Registered by Live Oak Society Are in Danger This Week From the Staring Lane Widening Project

The City-Parish surveyed the trees along the route during the design phase.  We determined, at that time, which trees had to be removed and which stood a reasonable chance of survival.  Any live oak with even a minimal chance of withstanding the work was designated to remain.

The EBR Unified Development Code contains numerous passages encouraging (but never requiring) the protection of existing trees. Most such text is contained in the documentation of the various Urban Design Districts and Urban Design Overlay Districts. Such districts require the developer(s) of private property to catalog the existing trees (of some species) on their sites in an effort to allow us to encourage their protection through site planning changes.  Staring Lane is not located within any such district to which any tree protection limitations apply.

The Louisiana DOTD’s “Roadside Vegetation Manual” contains language regarding “significant trees”.  The tree language was added at the insistence of Gov. Foster several years ago. It is policy, not state law.  Some of the more pertinent passages are:

6. REMOVAL : The decision to remove a significant tree should be reached only after all reasonable efforts to preserve it have been exhausted and will require the concurrence of the Chief Engineer that there are no acceptable design or operational alternatives. In most cases, it is expected that a decision to remove will have been made in a climate of public involvement and dialog with members of the affected community. In no case will a decision to remove a significant tree be implemented without notifying the affected community of the Department’s intentions and its reasons.

7. CONSTRUCTION CONSIDERATIONS: Trees determined by the design team to be significant and their appropriate disposition (preservation, specified limited impact, or any special treatment) will be identified in the plans. The Project Engineer will assure that the contractor's operations are sensitive to the treatment required by the plans. Construction considerations may include temporary fencing to protect from construction equipment, avoidance of root zones, care of overhanging branches, etc. (there may be need for additional language in Standard Specifications)

The DOTD language refers to state projects being done on state rights-of-way. Staring is a local project on a local (EBR) right-of-way.

While I cannot blame you for wanting to protect the trees, as City-Parish would like to see all live oaks preserved, it is simply impractical to preserve the trees in the actual road right of way.  We adjusted the right of way to preserve as many trees as possible.  I believe that everyone involved has done a good job of protecting as many trees as possible on the Staring Lane project and every other Green Light project we have undertaken.

William Daniel

Acting Director of Public Works