NEWPORT — The well-known Sitka spruce tree at a state park overlooking Yaquina Bay is about to get a trim or a big farewell.
The tree at the Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site has been declared a hazard, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department said in a news release, and will either be cut down or cut back to avoid injury to people or damage to vehicles in the park.
Known affectionately as the Yaquina Muscle Tree, the Sitka spruce lost a large limb during a winter storm, which prompted an inspection that showed significant decay, park officials said. Park staff will either cut back the tree significantly to create a snag for wildlife or remove it completely.
Any cutting won’t be done until June, leaving people a couple of months to pay their respects.
Park officials appear to be expecting a large emotional outpouring. The department has already set up a website for people to share their memories of the big tree, which has been growing in the median of a park road.
“We know that this tree is not only special to us but to the local community as well,” park manager Burke Martin said in the news release. “We’re offering residents an opportunity to share their memories and potential ideas on how to honor this amazing gift of nature.”
There will be more updates about the plans for both cutting and commemorating the tree later this spring.
“It was a difficult decision to make especially with this iconic Sitka Spruce that has become a friend to us all over the years as the gatekeeper to the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, but we have to balance between the beauty of nature and the safety of our visitors,” Martin said.
- Jamie Hale/The Oregonian/OregonLive
How about getting an indigenous artist to carve a totem from the main trunk, if the rot is not too severe in that area of the spruce?