Now TWO Dawn Redwoods in Danger!

IMMEDIATE ATTENTION PLEASE!   We have just confirmed that the Arlington Park and Recreation Commission intends to reapply for the permit to cut down, not one, but two of the three dawn redwoods in Magnolia Park! This is outrageous, given that the Commission had originally submitted a permit on June 16th to take down one of the three trees. WE URGE EVERYONE WHO STILL WISHES TO SAVE THE TREE TO JOIN US IN TAKING ACTION IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:   *Take a moment to voice your opposition to this new plan by emailing the following people. Please cc arlingtonredwood@gmail.com (that will get you on our direct email list). -Cori Beckwith, Conservation Commission, cbeckwith@town.arlington.ma.us -James Feeney, Interim Recreation Director, Park and Recreation, jfeeney@town.arlington.ma.us -Adam Chapdelaine, Town Manager, achapdelaine@town.arlington.ma.us  -Jennifer Rothenberg, Park and Recreation Commission, jenjenroth@rcn.com -Please attend the next Conservation Commission meeting on July 14th, 7:30 pm (Town Hall Annex, Room TBD) – this may be our final opportunity to save the trees -Email as many of the Town Assemblymen as possible: ◦ Steven Byrne, smbyrne1987@gmail.com ◦ Joseph Curro, jcurro@alumni.tufts.edu ◦ Daniel Dunn, dunster@dandunn.org ◦ Kevin Greeley, greeleycom@aol.com ◦ Diane Mahon, dianemahon@verizon.net -We have contacts with local Arlington and Boston media. We will spread the word via those media.  Important background information for you to know before you contact any of the officials: -We had previously reported to you that the tree was “saved for now” hoping that the Park and Recreation Commission would listen to the overwhelming public opposition to cutting down the tallest of the trees and act accordingly in the interest of the public. It’s decision to cut down more trees is genuinely perplexing and calls into question our confidence in the Park and Recreation Commission to act in the best interest of the public. -No work has begun on the Magnolia project. The delay has nothing to do with the Save Arlington Redwood effort as the Conservation Commission approved the plan at its most recent meeting on June 16. The delay is odd as the civil engineer who was at that meeting had noted that any further delay would begin to accrue penalties from the construction company. -Save Arlington Redwood consists of parents of young children who want the playground to be completed as soon as possible (and preserve the gorgeous trees). That point was made repeatedly at the June 16th Conservation Commission meeting. -At the December 15, 2015 meeting at Hardy School, the landscape architects incorrectly identified the tree as a bald cypress. It is now open question whether that falsehood was made intentionally. -We have been informed that the Park and Recreation Commission has in hand a planting plan dated 1985 showing six dawn redwoods being planted. If that is true, such planting plan would confirm that the community plot was added after the trees were planted. It would further mean that three of the original trees have since died or been destroyed. The Park and Recreation Department now proposes to destroy two of the three remaining trees. We intend to obtain this planting plan via public records law request. -Such planting plan would also suggest that the Park and Recreation Department would have known that those were dawn redwoods when at one of the recent Park and Recreation Commission meetings the trees were misidentified as bald cypress. Until one of the members of Save Arlington Redwood called the Conservation Commission, and who in turn called the Park and Recreation Department and informed it of the wetlands issue, the Park and Recreation Department was planning to proceed with the construction without receiving the proper environmental permits. -Prior minutes of the Park and Recreation Commission meeting clearly show that the commission was aware the Magnolia playground is in a flood zone. For the record, Save Arlington Redwood continues to advocate for saving the dawn redwood trees at Magnolia playground and pursuing intelligent and creative solutions to expanding the number of sunny garden plots. We would urge the Conservation Commission to reject the current plan to destroy any of the dawn redwoods. We simultaneously urge the Park and Recreation Commission to consider opening new community garden plots -- for example at Menotomy Park, Parallel Park, or McLennen Park.