Firm set to cut down tree planted by 1880s pioneers

SALEM – A black walnut tree planted in the 1880s near present-day downtown Salem will be cut down this week to make room for a construction project.

Historians say the tree grew from a nut that was brought by covered wagon from Nebraska.

Developers say the tree is in declining health and a danger, but not everyone agrees. It currently towers over a seven-story apartment building.

It occupies land owned by State Investments, which is considering a 12- or 13-story housing-office-retail project there. Vice President Diane Munley said falling branches have injured people and damaged property. That, and plans for the land it is on, require that it come down, she said.

“There are places you can’t park in the fall because your windshield will be broken,” she said.

Neighbors and tree advocates are upset.

“It makes me feel really sad,” said Bonnie Millett, the manager of the Cottage House Restaurant near the tree. “It seems like every time we turn around in Salem, they’re taking something out that the pioneers brought here, and you can’t replace that. It’s like history disappears.”

Linda Peterson, a member of the city’s Shade Tree Advisory Committee, scoffed at the notion that the tree’s health requires it to be felled.

“You know, you can say any one of those Heritage Trees is in declining health because they all have reached the peak of their maturity,” Peterson said. “These trees die over a 50-year period. There’s nothing imminent about this tree dying.”

The tree was listed as a Heritage Tree with the city from 1982 to 2001 when State Investments removed it from the then-voluntary register when Salem City Council strengthened the protection of Heritage Trees.

The tree remains on some historical Web sites and is featured in tree walks through urban Salem.

But it is no longer protected.

A tree service is scheduled to take down the black walnut Tuesday and Wednesday. No official building plans have been filed.

“There is really nothing in stone at this point,” Munley said.

She said the company, sensitive to the tree’s past, plans to have a lumber company tag the wood and slow-dry it. A craftsman then would use it to make benches, tables and other objects for local places such as the Salem Conference Center.

“We’re going to give them things made from the wood as a lasting tribute,” Munley said. “We were told if we waited until the tree was in full decline, that wouldn’t be an option.”

That idea provided cold comfort to Peterson.

“I’m astonished anyone would say something like that,” she said.