NewsPortRichey received a complaint Wednesday that contractors had spray painted red “X”s on three Hickory trees north of Sims Park on Orange Circle. I stopped by to take some pictures of the tree and spoke on the phone with Mr. Terry Kline, a board member at the West Pasco Historical Society. City Manager Debbie Manns and Mayor Rob Marlowe were made aware of the issue, and Manns issued the following statement Friday afternoon:
In case you are not already aware, some concerns have been raised by Mr. Terry
Kline in relationship to the planned removal of four hickory trees which are located
generally on the east side of the Historical Museum at Bank Street.
In response to the concerns the staff has been working with the architect to
determine if it is possible to save any of the trees. At this point the matter is
unresolved and as such the scheduling of the tree removal has been put on hold until
such time as an appropriate resolution to this matter can be been reached.
The trees are in healthy condition, but apparently were to be removed as part of the improvements to the park. A fourth tree, a scrub oak, was marked for removal but is in declining condition and is a good candidate for removal. The healthy trees are Water Hickories, native to Florida with a lifespan of up to 250 years. NewsPortRichey, as well as other local ecological groups, share Klein’s concern about the removal of healthy trees that could continue to provide shade for decades to come.
NewsPortRichey will publish updates on whether the trees are planned to be removed or not once more information is available. See images below of the Hickory Trees in question.
Hopefully, plans can be adjusted to save the hickory trees.
One of the factors of “improving ” Sims park was to allow for more shade. The cutting down of an established native such as this Hickory would be a step back. During Ecofest this past year there was an edible weed walk around Orange Lake led by Author of ‘Florida Useful Plants’, Andy Firk, who was impressed that we had such wonderful, healthy hickories in the park. We already are losing a nice community garden on one end in Peace Garden. My concerns will be about this contractors shortsightedness and what other shade and greenery/cooling will be lost in this plan.
I would have to side with Mr. Ahlquist on this matter of losing heathy well established native trees, providing natural shade would be a shame. The community has already lost Peace Garden, a once lovely green space created by residents, so let’s save a few trees. The City of New Port Richey has been labeled a Green City after all!
I fully agree that we need to keep the natural shade when tree conditions are sound and are not causing some major adjustment to proposed plans. There is always a way to find a middle ground this early in a project that is solely for a park that is the blending of nature and man made structures that bring relaxation and joy to old and young alike.
Friendship Farms & Fare share this concern as well. We have received a number of contacts expressing concern and some outrage about the general loss of trees in the Sims Park reconstruction.
Trees (and especially long-living trees, like Hickories) are valuable residents of an ecosystem. In this case, the ecosystem is an urban forest, and this city has worked very hard over many many years to restore the tree canopy of its ecosystem. We have been pretty successful as cities go. An awareness of the valuable role of Hickories in an ecosystem should give a certified Arborist pause before committing to their destruction.
In this context, there should be pause and some further reflection given to the destruction of these trees, whose lifespan is 200-300 years. If we can see fit not to destroy those trees, they will most likely still be around long after everyone reading this is gone.
Dell deChant
Citizen
Good thing for active citizens. It is absolutely ludicrous that these trees were even being considered for removal.