Farewell, Wedgwood Cedars

 

10/21/24 Red cedars in Wedgwood the day before they were to be cut down

Astra, a centenarian red cedar in the Wedgwood neighborhood, first came to my attention about a year ago. The developer Legacy had applied for a permit to have the tree destroyed. Despite much citizen protest, the climate justice activist group Tree Action Seattle announced that Astra plus four other Wedgwood cedars would be cut down on Oct. 22. Since I had already sketched Astra last year, I decided to sketch the other four cedars the day before they were scheduled to come down.

Standing across the street in front of Wedgwood Elementary School, I couldn’t see all four trees, but I was still impressed by the massive height of those I could see. Soon Legacy will replace them with yet another multi-unit development that independent architects have shown could be built without destroying the trees. As has happened many times – Legacy has cut down more than 1,700 trees in 2024 alone – city regulations supposedly protect mature trees such as these cedars, but loopholes are easily stepped through.

Thank you, beautiful cedars, for all your decades of service. You will be sorely missed.