Good on Save the Trees. Someone has to do this.

Seattle is so full of Bullshit Environmentalism.

Yeah, I mean it does "impact statements" and has protests and it has "Green Groups" go on and on and on...but when push comes to shove, its always the builders and the concrete pourer that get their way.

No project that I ever heard of has ever been stopped because of "environmental reasons". All the Green Movement does is let people milk the system for extra bucks pretending to be helping the environment, when in fact, they are powerless and really wouldn't want to do anything any way.

I don't know. I'm as environmentalist as the next guy, but I think it's stories like these where you can get a little ridiculous. I'm sure they're nice trees and all. If I lived in the neighborhood, I'm sure I'd be pretty annoyed to see them come down.

But on the other hand... we really have much bigger fish to fry.

PS. But I'm open to being persuaded. (Note to smug libertarians: hold your tongue, you'll probably be the ones who convince me in the wrong direction.)

Meh.

Was that virgin forest when they built Ingraham? I doubt it. Those trees were probably planted when the school was built. Big deal if they cut a few down to expand. They'll plant more. It isn't like those are rare or endangered trees. This isn't a national park; it's a fucking school grounds.

Find something better to fight over.

Meanwhile, Puget Sound is dying. Get your fucking priorities straight, people.

One thing I never hear in stories like this: How much longer will these trees live?

In 50 years time, when the new school building is still in use, there will be another grove of old trees. In the meantime, depending on the species and the age of the grove, many of the trees being saved will have died of old age.

Comedy break:

http://www.tbs.com/video/conan.jsp?oid=2…

Agreed with #6. but hey. who cares about the fact the orcas may be gone within the next 50 years,
save the trees!!!!!
Sometimes, people's priorities scare me.

But on the other hand, we have much bigger sea kittens to fry.

Come on, if you're gonna go for "nuts," do it right. Even PETA understands that.

Ingraham HS is an Eisenhower era architectural abortion. I worked on a summer long construction gig at Ingraham High last summer and got to know the place inside and out. It's a cinder block prison that should be raised and completely rebuilt. Those trees are the only thing that protects the houses across the street from staring at this abomination. And the other side of the school is a big, cracked open, weed growing, disrepaired parking lot adjacent to this ancient auditorium which the new building aims to replace. No reason they couldn't tear down the old auditorium and build their expansion into the teacher lot. The school district has some shitty planners.

The school needs more space, some trees need to be cut down, so be it. Sometimes people make too big of a deal of this shit. I want to keep as many trees as possible in our city and I think we do a pretty good job. If you look at really old pictures of Seattle there are no trees anywhere.

@5 Actually there are native. My mom and dad went to Ingraham back in the 60s and those trees were all there, tall and strong, back then too.

@ 12 The high school looks about as architecturally appealing as any other high school in this country. You should worry about what goes on inside instead.

I have seen this sorry grove of trees is this ugly neighborhood many times over the past few years. There are many environmental battles worth fighting, but this is not one of them. Do these "activists" really hope to make the world better? They would be better off trying to save some actual woodlands that provide habitat for endangered NW species. This is strictly NIMBYISM from ineffectual hippies.

Oofa neglect to point out that the houses are ramblers and split-levels of equal esthetic value, most built much later than the "prison".
There is an auto shop class directly south of those zombie trees. That doesn't appear to be an environmental issue, but those trees are?
Uh, no. I regret signing that pettition. What a fucking mistake this is.
Save me from the shitty neighbors that want to save the trees so that don't have to be reminded that these people live across the street from a high school in the city.
Fuck them. I live two blocks away, I have an ax, and would be first in line to chop those half dead snags down.

This is such bullshit. The only environment those assholes care about is their views from the livingroom windows of their houses.

"Saving the Trees" should be about fighting rapacious clearcut logging operations and preserving public lands, not preventing a handful of stunted city-trees from getting cut down to make room for a school.

Word is that the head of Save the Trees wants to head up King County Democrats. Apparently, though, he thinks that 27 trees in a city are more important than jobs and education. As @17 noted - focus more attention on stopping the clear-cutting. We are in a very green city, and after these trees are razed, we will continue to be a very green city. Save the Trees is a fucking joke, and makes environmentalists look really bad.

Okay, a few other facts.

- Ingraham, like Rainier Beach High and Chief Sealth, are not going to enjoy/receive the same kind of rebuilds as all the other comprehensive high schools. For whatever reason, the district has chosen to do piecemeal work on all of them. This addition would represent the biggest change to Ingraham.

-Ingraham has had math classes in portables for a looong time. Horrible portables.

- This grove of trees, however, is part of the landscape of Ingraham. That the district has scaled back is to their credit. However just saying they will replace the trees doesn't mean squat. They won't put the same kind and when you are trying to save the green of Seattle, it makes a difference. The neighbors have a point.

-the district hasn't made an effort to get a facilitator in with the neighbors. It's always been pretty adversarial. If the district had made this effort, they would have undercut the neighbors arguments by looking like the peacemaker. But the district always thinks its right.

And to that last point, the addition could be built elsewhere but the district doesn't want to do that. And so they will fight to the bitter end to get exactly what they want. Even though it has cost time and money and anger from the neighbors.

Also, it's Ron English, not Rob.