Tree advocates sanction plan to remove trees.

Byline: CITY BEAT / EUGENE by Diane Dietz The Register-Guard

PUT THE WORDS "tree cutting" and "Broadway" together in a sentence and people who've lived in Eugene for a while will get the heebie-jeebies.

The words remind them of June 1, 1997, when the city's impassioned tree advocates clashed with police over the removal of 40 trees to make way for the $24 million Broadway Place complex.

It was a day of bruises and bruised feelings, which eventually permeated the city - as police struggled to control a crowd of protesters, who wailed each time a tree fell.

Today, the city is preparing to cut 47 more trees along Broadway - where a tree-lined pedestrian mall has been for 31 years - to make way for the street's reopening this fall.

The trees are less than half as old as those in the earlier disputed cutting. American linden, southern magnolia, green ash, American beech, saucer magnolia and a Japanese snowbell are all marked for cutting, but this time the scene is entirely different.

"I hope so," project manager Denny Braud said. "Hopefully we've learned something from our prior experience with trees."

The credit appears to belong to Mark Snyder, who came from Virginia with eyes wide open to be Eugene's urban forester 18 months after the infamous tree-cutting incident. His job is to plan and coordinate the city's urban forestry policies, practices and activities.

Over the past three years, Snyder spent considerable time getting to know the distant fringes of Eugene's tree-loving community - some of whom view trees as sentient beings worthy of nearly equal standing with people.

He won tree advocate Michael McCarthy's grudging respect. "Under the auspices of Mr. Snyder things have gotten considerably better for trees," he said. "We can work with him."

After the Broadway opening was approved by voters last fall, Snyder arranged

a meeting with McCarthy on the pedestrian mall, filling him in on the planned tree cutting.

He also shared his concerns about how urban trees were planted in the past, with 2-by-3 foot openings covered by metal grates. The arrangement shortens the life of trees to seven to 10 years, Snyder said.

The Broadway opening calls for replacing all the trees that will be cut and adding as many as 14 more - and Snyder is ensuring a more hospitable environment for the new trees.

The construction contract requires crews to scrape away the compacted dirt under the sidewalks down to the native soil. Before the new cement work goes in, river loam will replace the compacted dirt. The opening around trees will be 6 feet by 6 feet, and the strangling metal grates will be gone.

Finally, Snyder agreed to work with the tree advocates to move two of the smaller ash trees in Broadway's path to Maurie Jacobs Park.

The move is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 30, McCarthy said. "Maybe they can grow out and have a somewhat reasonable life for an ash tree."

If protesters show up when crews are cutting the remaining trees, McCarthy said he'd explain to them why he's not protesting the tree removals.

"We understand we have to listen to all elements of our community and choose our battles wisely and work with people like Mr. Snyder," he said.

Iron, Irony

A firefighter, potter and quirky home decorator named Ron White saw a picture of Eugene's new environmental manhole covers in the paper last Sunday and thought he might get one to inlay in his living room floor.

The covers feature a leaping fish - trout? salmon? - and a dragonfly, with the pithy warning: Dump No Waste Drains to Stream. "I thought it would be pretty cool-looking," White said. "I like the fish art."

The 110-pound cast iron covers are the work of Spokane-based Inland Foundry Co., whose Oregon sales office is a 17-year-old fixture in Springfield. The covers sell for $200 a piece.

Sales Manager Tom Ficek said designing the covers in collaboration with the fussy city staff was rewarding, in part because the covers deliver a message for the greater good. "It's allowing the public to get involved with trying to help pollution," he said.

But here's the wrinkle: When White jumped on the Internet to find out where to order the manhole-cover-as-living-room-art, he discovered that the foundry had a considerable history of environmental, health and safety problems.

The company has been in hot water with the Washington Department of Ecology and the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority for decades, state records show.

Also, in 1999, the Washington Department of Labor & Industries fined the company $129,600 for willfully failing to protect workers from lead poisoning, which can lead to brain, nerve and kidney damage.

The foundry's current owner inherited the problems, Ficek said, and management has spent millions installing new systems to control pollution.

Still, the juxtaposition of the manhole message and the company record gave White and his buddies pause to chuckle. "It's like putting salmon on license plates after they're already gone," he said. "It's ironic."

Inflated fun

You'll be paying more for your fun this summer if you use Eugene's courts, fields or swimming pools.

Swimming at the Amazon Pool is going up by 25 cents to $2.25 a session for children and $2.75 for adults; softball league field fees are going up $2 a game to $50; and all non-Eugene residents will have to pay a 20 percent surcharge when taking a city recreation classes.

Thinking about a birthday party at the Amazon Pool? Better have a sugar daddy. The rental rate is going to $250 an hour, up from the current $75.

"It's like most other costs in this country. It's going up," said Angel Jones, executive manager of the city's Library, Recreation and Cultural Services Department. "We are trying to maintain our costs and ensure our competitiveness in this market."

Jones said she doesn't expect the fee increase to keep low-income children out of the water this summer. The city offers $15,000 a year in fee scholarships in one program and subsidizes participation for residents of low-income housing through another. "It's not our intent to turn any child away," she said.

If you don't like the fee increases, there's still time to gripe. Acting City Manager Jim Carlson will consider your comments before making the final call next week.

Send comments to the Library, Recreation and Cultural Services Administration, Recreation Division, 99 W. 10th Ave., Suite 340, Eugene, OR 97501. Or call 682-5010.

Reporter Diane Dietz can be reached at 338-2376 or by e-mail at [e-mail]

CAPTION(S):

CHRIS PIETSCH / The Register-Guard Eugene's new manhole covers cost $200. The covers replace lightweight ones that were easy to steal and noisy for nearby homes.