Seven Young, Donated, Oak Trees Vandalized Near Union County Fairgrounds
By Garrett Christensen on Wednesday, September 6th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – In Eastern Oregon, trees are everywhere including our urban spaces. While it may be easy at times to take them for granted given how common they are, the sheer amount of effort that goes into planting and caring for urban trees cannot be understated. It is with extreme frustration and disappointment that La Grande Parks and Recreation confirm that seven young oak trees near the Union County Fairgrounds have become victims of senseless vandalism and will have to be replaced.
Located along North Second Street near the Fairgrounds, six of the seven vandalized trees were found completely snapped at the trunk on Sunday, August 27, by La Grande’s Urban Forester, Teresa Gustafson. The trees were reportedly fine on Friday, August 25, two days before. The trees themselves were planted during the Fall of 2021 to replace a string of dead trees that had since become a safety hazard. In total, sixteen oak trees and seventeen pine trees were planted in the area. The seven broken oaks lasted less than two years. As Described by Gustafson:
“They were young trees so they’re not very big around. They’re maybe an inch and a half in diameter and so they were snapped off about halfway up the trunk. It looked like somebody was probably just pulling them until they broke.”
Adding insult to Injury, the trees in question had been paid for by community donations. A private citizen had provided the money to buy the trees while volunteers had helped plant them. The city covered costs specifically related to upkeep and caring for the young trees as they took root. While it’s estimated that purchasing replacement trees of the same species and age will only cost roughly two hundred dollars, the loss in wasted and future upkeep is much greater as Gustafson explained:
“To replace the trees, just the cost to get trees of equal size and put them back in, it’ll be about two hundred dollars. That doesn’t include the cost that’s gone into maintaining these trees for two years and the cost that will maintain the new trees going in. The total amount of money invested in these trees and having to replace them is over four thousand dollars.”
As to what can be done in the meantime to find the vandals, unfortunately not much. The vandalism has been reported to the La Grande Police Department and in an internal bulletin issued, but with no security cameras in the area, finding the party responsible will rely on someone that was involved in the vandalism, or that witnessed it, coming forward with information.
Regarding preventing future acts of vandalism, Gustafson explained that there simply aren’t that many options either:
“It’s really hard to protect trees against vandalism because the expense of fencing them is exorbitant. We put cages around them to protect them from the deer and the elk and we stake them to make sure that they aren’t damaged by the wind, but to keep people away from a tree is a lot harder. I don’t know what kind of fencing you’d have to put in to keep people out.”
Of course, the trees can and will be replaced, and one of them may even be savable, but the sheer pettiness and pointlessness of destroying young healthy trees has been, understandably, disheartening for Parks and Rec. As Gustafson shared:
“To me it’s unexplainable. Trees are a huge asset to our urban environment, so I just don’t understand the mentality or maybe people just don’t understand that trees are living things, they can be destroyed. They don’t understand the value of trees. Maybe they don’t understand that it takes a lot of time to get a tree established, so anytime you damage it, that’s a major setback.”
For those that would like to help, monetary donations and participation in the Grow La Grande volunteer group are always appreciated by Parks and Rec. A donation program is even in place for community members to sponsor the planting of individual trees. Anyone with information pertaining to the vandalism can reach out to Parks and Rec’s Urban Forestry Department at 541-663-1952. If nothing else, just remember to respect your trees. As Gustafson best put it:
“It’s just hard, young trees are just vulnerable. Even older trees are vulnerable. People damage trees all the time whether intentionally or not. They ram cars into them, they break branches off. It’s depressing because we’re at a point in time where trees are more important than ever as far as being able to sequester carbon from the air and help mitigate climate change. The idea that people would willingly destroy something that only helps the environment…I just can’t fathom it.”
