50 native WA oaks cut down for Lakewood warehouse. How locals helped save even more
About 50 Garry oak trees – Washington state’s only native oak – were cut down recently at a property in Lakewood to make room for a moving-service warehouse.
Without the efforts of Lakewood residents and local conservationists, about 90 more would have fallen.
“That is a huge number of years of tree life saved,” said Christina Manetti, founder of the nonprofit Garry Oak Coalition.
Manetti, who’s lived in Lakewood since 1971, started Garry Oak Coalition to rally others in the fight to save the native trees, also known as Oregon white oaks. But she won’t call this a victory. The decision to keep the trees, which can live for hundreds of years, came down to the good will of the developer.
“It’s not a triumph because there was no fight involved,” Manetti said. “It was just completely at the mercy of the developer.”
The man who owns the property at 3230 85th St. S. is Greg Wakefield, CEO of AAA Moving and Storage in Alaska. In a phone call Thursday, Wakefield said he owns Coleman American Moving Services of Washington, the property’s prime tenant.
Wakefield said when he first saw the property, he had never heard of a Garry oak tree.
When the parcel was first purchased in 2019, designs for development planned to remove practically all of the trees. Push back from people who care about them changed his mind.
“I made the decision after input from the community to do everything we could to save as many trees as possible,” Wakefield said.
The plans were redesigned, reducing parking by about 15 percent. That saved two clusters of Garry oak trees.
Tensions between developers, Lakewood residents
Warehouse developments in Lakewood have sparked controversy in the last year as the city works to boost its business sector. Some residents have objected to the growth, arguing that the warehouses aren’t worth the destruction of native plant life or the changes they could bring to the neighborhood.
The 85th Street property is bordered by a residential neighborhood to the east and a number of houses to the north and south. Clover Park School district sold it to Northwest Leasing LLC for $3.6 million, according to property records.
Eric Seibel, a Lakewood resident and conservationist, said people have been using the area as a makeshift park. Now the once-grassy land is a level field of dirt as the developer gets ready for construction.
“It’s really torn up,” Seibel said.
Tree cutting began Monday, March 28, at the 9-plus-acre property where Oakwood Elementary School once stood along with about 140 of the native trees.
Seibel, also a member of the Washington State Audubon Conservation Committee, said the long life span of the oaks makes them great for capturing carbon. All trees capture carbon dioxide, but he said the trees that will probably replace them such as alders and firs will die and need to be replanted much sooner.
The trees also play a unique role in the Puget Sound prairie ecosystem, environmental sciences and technology instructor at Clover Park Technical College, Derek Faust, told The News Tribune last year.
He said Garry oaks provide habitat for wildflowers and endangered pollinators. Conservationists have been calling to preserve the trees for decades. In 1998 management recommendations for the state’s priority habitats, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife said the trees shouldn’t be cut.
Found between northern California and southern British Columbia, Garry oaks are in decline, with only about 5 percent of its historical habitat remaining, according to the Canada-based Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society. The oaks are not listed as an endangered species on the U.S. Endangered Species Act or listed as an endangered species in the state of Washington. In Canada, they are considered endangered.
When Manetti visited the Lakewood property Thursday, March 31, she said she was moved to see about 90 Garry oak trees standing along one edge. She also found a pleasant surprise. The largest, and likely oldest tree on the property, an oak she measured to be 46 inches in diameter at breast height and which is likely about 400 years old, was still standing.
“They told us they couldn’t save it, and it’s all been cleared around it,” she said. “It’s sort of on the edge of the parking lot area. I’m thinking maybe they’re trying to figure it out still.”
Her hope for the centuries-old tree didn’t last long. When she spoke to the property owner later, she learned it wouldn’t be saved.
“Very sad,” Manetti said in an email. “At least I said goodbye and took a final photo.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story provided a low estimate for the age of the largest tree at the warehouse property.
This story was originally published April 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
