Some of the Burr Oak Trees in the last remaining mature grove in Ann Arbor are dying. Find out why, and what can be done about it in this week's edition of "Issues of the Environment."
Overview
* Ann Arbor’s city seal features the Burr Oak, a slow-growing tree that may live 400 years or more; most Burr Oaks in the city were cut for timber over 200 years ago.
* The mature Burr Oaks remaining in Ann Arbor are primarily lone trees scattered in neighborhoods throughout the city, but one mature grove stands near Fuller Road on a site that is under consideration for use as parking for either the VA or UM hospitals or a future train depot.
* Sabra Briere, City Council member, Ann Arbor, D-1st Ward, believes that the current parking activities of both the UM and VA on the Fuller Road site have lead to deterioration and death of many of the trees, an arrangement that violates the spirit of a parking agreement between the city and UM--an agreement intended to protect the trees.
