Support Gathers for Historic Red Cedar Tree in Wedgewood
Photos and text by Susan Fried
Close to a hundred people gathered to show their support for an elder Western Red Cedar tree called Luma in the Wedgewood neighborhood on the evening of Tuesday, July 18th. The tree, which is currently occupied by several people calling themselves Droplet, is scheduled to be cut down to make room for a multi-housing unit development. Neighbors and arborists have started a campaign to save the tree which is one of the oldest cedars in the city and was once used by the Snoqualmie Tribe as a marker, pointing the ancestors to significant landmarks and bodies of water.
During the Gratitude Gathering, the people occupying the tree spoke and vowed to continue their occupation and the owner of the tree company hired to remove the tree, Alex Tree Service, announced his company would no longer be involved in the removal of Luma. The gathering ended with the crowd singing “all we are saying is give trees a chance” and a group of children tossing rose petals into a circle containing a heart made of flower petals.
The neighbors and community members trying to save the tree have begun an email campaign to Mayor Bruce Harrell and have asked the developer Legacy Capital to protect Luma and to pursue an existing viable alternate site plan for the same number of units.
