Washington State Department of Agriculture Announces Remaining Trees in Tukwila Tree-Removal Area Will be Cut, Chipped; ''Host'' Trees On Private Residences Come Down Today.Business/News Editors, Agriculture Writers OLYMPIA, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 31, 2002 A King County Superior Court King County Superior Court, the largest trial court in Washington state, is based at the King County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue, in downtown Seattle, Washington. It also operates a juvenile facility and a Regional Justice Center in Kent, southeast of Seattle. judge agreed late Tuesday to issue access warrants early today, allowing the Washington State Department of Agriculture to remove the last trees in the Tukwila tree-removal area. In the past week, three of 51 homeowners who live in the one-eighth mile tree-cutting area had refused WSDA WSDA Washington State Department of Agriculture (also seen as WASDA) WSDA Washington State Dental Association WSDA Wyoming Stock Dog Association WSDA Washington State Dieticians' Association permission to remove trees potentially infested in·fest tr.v. in·fest·ed, in·fest·ing, in·fests 1. To inhabit or overrun in numbers or quantities large enough to be harmful, threatening, or obnoxious: with the citrus citrus Any of the plants that make up the genus Citrus, in the rue family, that yield pulpy fruits covered with fairly thick skins. The genus includes the lemon, lime, sweet and sour oranges, tangerine, grapefruit, citron, and shaddock (C. maxima, or C. grandis; also called pomelo). longhorned beetle beetle, common name for insects of the order Coleoptera, which, with more than 300,000 described species, is the largest of the insect orders. Beetles have chewing mouthparts and well-developed antennae. . On Monday, the court recognized what WSDA officials have repeatedly stressed during the past year: "(The beetles beetles members of the insect order Coleoptera. They are common intermediate hosts for tapeworms. darkling beetles this and other mealworms are common inhabitants of poultry houses and are suspected of aiding in the transmission of ) constitute an extreme threat to the interests of the state." But the judge went on to rule that the homeowners of the three properties are owed compensation. In stark contrast to the judge's decision, Director Valoria Loveland said, "We will appeal the judge's order as soon as Friday." Loveland went on to say, "Our authority to remove trees is based on a governor-declared and public emergency. If we fail to prevent the spread of this destructive beetle, we risk losing thousands more trees in our communities, wildlife and salmon habitat, fruit orchards and jobs." While Loveland remains firm that no compensation is owed, department officials and property owners did enter into an agreement late Tuesday. That agreement specifies how much payment would be due the three homeowners if, after the appeals process, a higher court holds that compensation is required. The host trees -- those favored by the beetle -- located on the three residences have been or will be appraised by an arborist hired by the property owners. Contractor and WSDA crews expect to begin removing the last of trees in the one-eighth mile tree-removal area today. Note to editors: Department of Agriculture has updated its Web site. Background information is available at this new URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. http://www.wa.gov/agr/PlantsInsects/InsectPests/CLHB/default.htm |
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