Protecting the Bexar Champion Chinquapin Oak

Contractor digging about 7:45 am in front of the tree. No supervisor on site from city.

Had discussion with inspector who told me I could not stop the contractor from digging in the public right-of-way. We stood our ground and he did pull back the backhoe while we waited for Mark Bird. You can see the area dug already, though.

Here is the area dug up in front of the Chinkapin this evening. Wish I had a wider lens this evening.

Root Damage photos:

Said the reason they were digging was to get fill dirt for the area between the culvert wall and the utility posts in order to stabilize them. However in the next photo you can see a pile of dirt by their office which had been previously dug up from a different area or time. Why they did not use this dirt is beyond my understanding.

So after the meeting with the City Arborist Mark Bird, the construction crew slowly pulled the dirt away from the Chinkapin roots with the backhoe, and then pruned the roots with a chain saw, followed by pruning spray on the ends. You can see the exposed roots in the photo. Not the preferred method for us, since the roots should be cut before the backhoe excavation, but much better than before. Previously, they were just ripping the roots out with the backhoe.

After all was said and done the contractor called me the neighborhood Kingpin. No way are we Kingpins. WE ARE AND PROUD TO CALL OURSELVES, NEIGHBORHOOD / ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS OR WATCHDOGS THOUGH!!! Funny the title and image others have of you when you stand up for what is right. Probably have also been called the project troublemaker!

We don't really consider any of this a victory, just another step in the progress of trying to protect what is important to us and our neighborhood. If all developers and contractors could only understand the value of these trees they damage or seek to eliminate on their projects. The long term gain for our city and environment far outweighs the little additional effort to do the right thing by properly working around these great trees.