300 year old tree

Save This Majestic Douglas Fir
The saga of this 300 year old tree

Getting Old Should Not Be Terminal
Specially when I am prepared to give up some limbs to ensure I am as safe or safer than a perfectly healthy tree.


“if we can prune it, let’s not ruin it”
Linda Hughes My Predicament

Douglas Fir at Seaview and Telegraph Bay Rd.

I am Douglas Fir. My life is being threatened by a force I alone am unable to deal with. Because of my size, age and stately presence, I want to continue to live. Just like any Senior Citizen, I have contributed much to at least seven generations of neighbours. I know I have more to give and share with my neighbours.

Today, as in the past, my presence provides my neighbours with a solid sense of time and permanence in a rapidly changing world. They feel that I am an essential part of this community.



My Plea for Help

Please help save me. I am over 300 years old, and I have been condemned by Saanich Parks because I have a fungal infection, not unlike what many trees around here have to contend with. Think of it as osteoporosis. It is not deadly. It just means I am not as strong as I used to be, and Saanich is scared I may fall and do some serious harm. Saanich has risk assessment criteria and the amount of decay in the core of my trunk makes me a borderline risk. Saanich does not want to acknowledge that, statistically, my chances of surviving upcoming storms are at least as great – and possible greater – than my chances of failing in one of these upcoming storms. So, to be completely safe, Saanich Parks wants to cut me down, and they are adamantly unwilling to acknowledge that my chances of surviving future storms should be part of their calculations.



My Salvation

However, according to the structural engineer, David Romain, PEng., who saved the Eik Tree in Tofino, I can be saved provided I am prepared to give up a number of branches to, as it were, “trim my sail” to reduce the stress on my weakened “mast” and thus reduce the risk of failure to that of a healthy tree. I think, and my loyal team of supporters think, that Saanich is misreading data provided to them. It is as if I just happen to be in the way and have to be discarded.



How You Can Save Me

To continue serving my community, I need your help. Two things need to be done. To begin with, we must raise over $600 to pay the structural engineer to prepare the spiral pruning and monitoring prescription. Every dollar you contribute will go towards efforts to save me.

We must also overcome Saanich Parks’ eagerness to cut me down by proving that our community cares about me. This is where your comments of supportwill contribute directly to my survival. Please add your comment to the bottom of this page, even if it is just a couple of words. Every comment counts.

And, please persuade your family, friends and neighbours to support my survival through small donations and supportive comments.