A 230-year-old old-growth Douglas fir located on property belonging to the Wahkiakum County Historical Society (WCHS) is still in danger of being cut down by the town of Cathlamet, despite the town’s council and mayor reaching a consensus in December to “save the tree by trying to build an ADA path around it, or at an alternate location.”

“There’s nobody on this council that wants to cut that tree down,” said David Olson, the town’s mayor, at a recent council meeting. “Nobody, including the mayor.”

Pull Quote

‘That tree has been there longer than this town has been alive. … There’s really an important lesson in this and it’s learning from each other, working together to build a community.’

Hugh Amaguq Ahnatook, Chinook Indian Nation

Olson summarized Cathlamet’s current position on the tree in a Jan. 3 email: “The town council had a preliminary informal consensus that they would explore alternatives to save the tree. But removal of the tree was not taken off the table and no vote was taken. If the tree is objectively shown to be a danger or a safety hazard, it remains subject to removal.”

A decision to take the removal option off the table is up the council, which has scheduled a public discussion of options available to the town for its regular Jan. 21 meeting. If the discussion is held as scheduled, the council may or may not choose to take formal action on that date or a subsequent date.

Asked if the city has the legal authority to remove the tree even if its owner, WCHS, objects, Olson, a former president of WCHS, replied, “Yes.”

Still no agreement

WCHS disagrees. “The society has been clear in its opposition to the tree’s removal. The tree does not need to be removed and alternatives exist that meet the needs of accessibility without violating property boundaries. Ignoring our objections and proceeding with this plan would be an unlawful and reckless action… We expect the town to respect property rights and act in accordance with the law,” WCHS said in a Nov. 27, 2024 letter to the Wahkiakum Town Council.

“We have never had communication with the town since finding out about their intention to remove the tree,” WCHS President David Whitney said.

Olson, asked why the town council hasn’t met with WCHS on the matter, said WCHS’s threats of litigation have made it “not possible” for town officials to meet with the organization.

“Both parties are represented by legal counsel,” he said. “Under the circumstances, all communications need to come through respective legal counsel. This is not a situation of the town’s making.”

On April 7, 2023 (prior to WCHS retaining legal representation), Fred A. Johnson, town attorney, sent a letter to WCHS that stated, “The RCO (Washington State Recreational and Conservation Office) requires the town be granted a non-exclusive easement over the permit area previously granted by WCHS to the town,” and provided an easement for WCHS to sign. One of the attachments to Johnson’s letter was a sketch of the Waterfront Park Project. In this sketch, the Strong Park fir remains and a path is built around it. WCHS did not sign this 2023 easement provided to it by the town attorney.

In 2020 and 2022, WCHS sent letters of support for Cathlamet’s Waterfront Park Project. Both letters stated, “We understand any changes and improvements will be carried out in consultation with the WCHS board.” On Feb. 5, 2024, Mike Johnson from Gray & Osborne, an engineering consulting firm, shared the latest plans for the Waterfront Park Project at a Town Council meeting. These plans showed a path going through where the Strong Park fir is. Council member Jeane Hendrickson commented, “I would like to include the port and historical society in some capacity… to have their blessing so they are are kept aware of what is going on.”

It is unclear exactly when and how WCHS became aware that the town planned to remove a tree on their property. It is known that Megan Blackburn Friend notified the WCHS board of the town’s intention to remove the tree shortly after she read about it in the Wahkiakum County Eagle in July 2024.

On Aug. 5, 2024, WCHS sent a letter to the mayor and council to inform them “the entire board is against the removal of any trees from our property… Furthermore we see nothing in the agreement that gives the town the right to remove trees from our property.” No attorneys were included in this letter, and no threats of litigation were mentioned.

The board invited the mayor and council to their next meeting “to negotiate a reasonable alternative.” A message from Rob Stockhouse, Ph.D. botanist, which said “the fir appears in good health,” was attached to this letter. The mayor and council did not accept WCSH’s invitation to meet while WCHS was not represented by an attorney and did not respond to WCHS in any other manner.

The council response to WCHS’s Aug. 5, 2024 letter appears to have been made in an Oct. 21 executive session. It is believed that it was in this meeting the town decided to hire a tree faller to cut the tree down without notification to WCHS and the public. The tree would have been gone forever if WCHS President David Whitney hadn’t received an apology on Nov. 6 from the tree faller for “not getting that tree cut down.”

RCO policy states that “To protect investments made by the RCO Funding Board and to assure public access to those investments, sponsors must have adequate control of project sites to access, construct, operate, and maintain the project areas for the term required by the grant program and grant agreements.” According to Margarite Austin, manager of Recreation and Conservation Grants, “Cathlamet provided documentation (Perpetual Use Agreement with the Historical Society) to help satisfy that requirement.”

WCHS became the owner of what is now Strong Park when the town deeded it a parcel of real property in 1958 for the construction of a historical museum. On Aug. 22, 1989 WCHS granted a land use permit to the town, granting it use of portions of the museum parcel for recreational use associated with the development of Strong Park. It is presumed that this is the permit Cathlamet presented the RCO to “help satisfy that requirement” that that the town has control over the project area. WCHS disagrees and believes the town is limited to the specifics in the 1989 permit and grant.

If RCO and the town thought the 1989 permit gave the town control over WCHS property, it is unknown why the town attorney told WCHS in a 2023 letter that “The RCO requires the town be granted a non-exclusive easement over the permit area previously granted by WCHS to the town.” It is also unknown how the town and RCO could move ahead on the Waterfront Park Project without consulting with WCHS while still not having the required easement. It now appears that answers to these question will only come from attorneys representing interested parties in this issue or by a judge.

Asphalt damage

The lower asphalt path that goes around the Strong Park fir was built over the tree’s roots in 1991. No repairs have been made to the pathway since. This path made the tree ill enough that by 1995 the town had to remove deadwood by topping it. The path buckled soon after it was built and has been buckled for decades.

“The town became more aware of safety concerns arising from buckled paths in Strong Park in connection with moving forward with plans for Waterfront Park,” Olson said. “The town closed the lower portion of Strong Park after an assessment by our public works department. Grant funding for the park is correlated with acceptable ADA access to the park, but the council will need to determine whether existing plans should be pursued, or alternative plans developed to provide the necessary access.”

A Dec. 6, 2024 Facebook post on the page Cathlamet Area News shares an undated letter from Town of Cathlamet forester William R. Olsen that concludes that an ADA path cannot be built without making the tree a danger. Olsen said, “I would recommend that the tree be removed for current and future safety of maintaining the pathway… I also observed three cottonwoods nearby that I would recommend be removed as well.”

Mayor Olson said, “In general, any tree that is a danger or safety hazard to the public should be removed. Public safety in any public park is paramount. It makes no sense to maintain a public park, but close it to public use to preserve a dangerous tree.” To determine whether the tree is a danger or safety hazard, Cathlamet has retained a certified professional arborist. At the date of this writing no findings by the arborist had yet been released by the town.

Hugh Amaguq Ahnatook spoke at a Dec. 2, 2012 town council meeting on behalf of the Chinook Indian Nation. “That tree has been there longer than this town has been alive… There’s really an important lesson in this and it’s learning from each other, working together to build a community.”

Court decision, or…?

Currently, it looks like the fate of the tree will be decided if and when the town takes official action to prevent its removal, or by the court system. It appears the town does have other ways to determine the tree’s fate, however. According to the RCO Manual 10a, “Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, Outdoor Recreation Account,” there are several options for grant flexibility during the pre-construction phase and the potential for design modification:

• A “Waiver of Non-Statutory Requirements” might be applied to allow for a modified design, given the unique historical and environmental significance of the tree;

• “Flexibility for Barriers and Pathways” might allow for alternative designs where space or physical obstacles (like the tree’s roots, the hillside, proximity to a salmon-bearing creek) limit standard pathways. This provision could allow for a creative design around the tree.

• “Designed Use Flexibility” states that the “designed use determines the design, construction, maintenance parameters, and level of accessibility requirements.” If the designed use is carefully defined, perhaps it can implement an accessible route that meets key goals without removing the tree.

Rather than remove the tree, WCHS officials said they would like to create an observation area next to the tree where people can view the Columbia River and future Waterfront Park.

These options could provide an opportunity to bring citizens, WCHS and the town government together as a community seeking common ground and an agreed-upon path to realizing completion of its Waterfront Park project.