Seahurst is becoming Easter Island.  Easter Island used to be a forested island inhabited by humans, until they cut down every single last tree and drove themselves to extinction.  While Seahurst currently has many trees--more large trees than most urban neighborhoods--they are coming down at a steady rate, faster than they are being replaced.  This page will keep track of the trees we have lost.  Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, the Seahurst neighborhood will have a tree inventory.  This might not stop the cutting, but it will serve as a record of how we used to be.

Address                                            Type                                            Cause                      Date

Eagle Landing Park, SW corner     2 maples, 18"+                                Unstable slope?        20090101

14601 24th Ave SW                    Several Large Douglas-fir, 24"+        Chainsaw                Around 2002?

14601 22nd Ave SW                    Large evergreen, 24"+                    Chainsaw                2008

15100 24th Ave SW                    Douglas-fir about 36"                        Chainsaw                2008

2722 SW 151st St.                1 or 2 large evergreens, about 24"            Chainsaw                2008

15013 28TH AVE SW            Large maple, about 36"                         Old age, saw              2007?

14645 25th Ave SW            Several large alders, about 20"                Fell. Age, unstable slope  2008

2203 SW 149TH ST          Large Douglas-fir, about 36"                    Fell in severe storm        20061215

Eagle Landing Park               1 cedar, 36"+, 1 fir, 36"+                        Snapped off in storm    20061215

14928 22ND AVE SW        Two large Douglas-firs, 36"                    Chainsaw                    2005?

14970 22ND AVE SW            Large pine, about 36"                            Chainsaw                    2008

14937 20TH AVE SW?            Large maple?  over 36"                        Chainsaw                    2008

14627 21ST AVE SW?          Two large Douglas-firs, 36"                    Chainsaw                    2008

14660 21ST AVE SW        3 large douglas-firs topped (cut in half)        Chainsaw                    2000?

2449 SW 150TH ST                   Cedar, about 36"                                Chainsaw                      2000?

14431 25th Ave SW                   Large Douglas-fir, 20"                        Chainsaw                    2009

14xx SW 148th St.                Mature evergreen                                    Chainsaw                    2009

144xx 14th Ave SW              Mature tree, unknown                            Chainsaw                    2009

Eagle Landing Park          Madrona, 24"                                              Fell, old age                    2009

It is unclear whether these trees were all cut down legally.  Many of them may have been in the buffer zone of the eagles' nest tree, and subject to the rules of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.  Even if these trees were protected, laws concerning trees are almost never enforced.  As a community, what should we do about this?  Just let it happen?  Are property rights so important that the community must give up all our trees in the name of personal freedom?  Houses change ownership every 11years, on average, and sellers and new owners may have incentives to remove significant trees.  A tree that could live to be over a thousand years old will be subject to the personal whims of hundreds of "owners".  If we stick with our current policies, and we keep losing significant trees at the rate of five to ten every year, in twenty years we will have lost a third of Seahurst's urban forest. 

http://wdfw.wa.gov/hab/phs/vol4/baldeagle.pdf   This document would seem to suggest that you would need to talk to WDFW before cutting a significant tree within half a mile of the eagles' nest, which would include every single address listed above, and most of the neighborhood historically known as Seahurst.  (Roughly 16th to the water, 146th to 152nd.)