Northwood News ♦ October 2013

A Requiem for the Trees

By Carole A. Barth

By the time you read this, irreparable damage may have been done to the grand old trees in Rachel Carson Meadow.  As I write this, we are seeking a temporary restraining order to stop construction of the soccer field.  This would allow for a hearing on the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s (MNCPPC’s) failure to follow the Forest Conservation Law.  The Forest Conservation Law protects forest stands as well individual specimen trees.  In this case, however, a minimum of 26 Priority Protected (i.e., specimen trees) may be destroyed or severely damaged because MNCPPC has not followed the same rules others are expected to meet.

As you may remember, we filed a formal request for reconsideration of MNCPPC’s decision to grant Montgomery Parks a variance to the Forest Conservation Law for the construction of the soccer field in North Four Corners Park.  We took this approach because (1) Parks could not construct the soccer field as planned without the variance, (2) the variance was granted on incorrect information, (3) the planned construction wantonly destroys significant trees, (4) the walnut tree is unlikely to survive construction and use of the field, and (5) Parks incorrectly asserted they would lose reasonable and significant use of the property if they could not build the field.

In other words, both the decision to grant the variance and the approved Forest Conservation Plan are deeply flawed.  One major flaw has to do with how the plan delineates the Critical Root Zones (CRZs) of the park’s specimen trees.

CRZ protection regulations were created because often trees that were saved from the bulldozers died anyway.  Most commonly this occurred because of unseen damage to the roots.  Compacting the soil by running heavy equipment over tree roots or even just storing building supplies under a tree can slowly kill the tree.  Thus, the regulations specify that the Critical Root Zones of Protected trees are not to be disturbed by construction activities.

The Forest Conservation Plan for North Four Corners Park, however, inaccurately depicts the CRZ areas of all the Protected trees, showing them as 33 percent smaller than the regulations require.  (This is kind of like under-reporting your income to the IRS so you can pay 33 percent less taxes.)

Let’s take the black walnut tree as an example.  [See a Timeline for the Black Walnut Tree’s Lifespan.]  According to the regulations, and based on the tree’s diameter as listed in the plan, the walnut’s CRZ would extend in a circle 87 feet out from the trunk.  However, on the Forest Conservation Plan, the CRZ is drawn at only 58 feet.

This sleight of hand allows MNCPPC to claim that only a small part (eight percent) of the CRZ will be impacted by the project.  To add insult to injury, the Plan doesn’t even protect the roots within this under-sized 58 foot CRZ.  The variance MNCPPC granted to Parks only requires them to protect the roots 30 feet out from the tree.  Thus, although The Forest Conservation Plan indicates that the walnut tree will be saved, the reality is it will most likely die.

These errors were pointed out to MNCPPC in our petition for reconsideration.  MNCPPC elected not to reconsider their decision, yet their plans have not been corrected.  Thus, they are knowingly flouting the same law they have required others to obey.

So why am I telling you all of this if it’s too late for our trees?  Because this is not an isolated incident.  It is part of a pattern.  Whether it’s a materially false Forest Conservation Plan, a Stormwater Management Plan that flouts state law, or a “disappearing” road in the MNCPPC map book, these are all signs of an agency that apparently views itself as above the law and answerable to no one.

In other words, these are countywide issues, not just local ones.  It is my hope that NFCCA will stand with other neighborhoods to see that no more trees are needlessly lost and to demand that MNCPPC treat our communities with basic courtesy and respect.  The citizens (and trees) of Montgomery County deserve no less.

Let me also say that throughout the 13 years our neighborhood has been fighting to save the meadow, it has been my privilege to work with many of you.  Time and again I have been amazed at the grace, wisdom, and talent exhibited by our residents.  I also treasure the fact that, in spite of concerted whisper campaigns and threats of reprisals from the “powers-that-be,” our neighborhood refused to be divided or to roll over.  I think we can take great pride in what that says about who we are.  And that is something no bulldozer can take from us.

We will need volunteers to pursue the Countywide issues I mentioned and to monitor construction in the Park to ensure that the damage wrought is no worse than what’s allowed.  By helping with these projects, and continuing our efforts to share Rachel Carson’s “sense of wonder” with our children, we will make a fitting requiem for the Meadow’s trees.   ■