Oh my... That's going take some getting used to but I'm glad that this was only a portion of the park and not the entirety of it. It could have been so much worse.
BGW Forced to Clear Trees Along Pipeline
- Thread starter Nicole
- Start date
I want to highlight that what we all saw today very likely is not how those areas will look by the end of the season.
Right now there are virtually no leaves on the treesm so even without the clearing, there is substantially more sunlight showing between the trees.
Furthermore, I think we need to give Landscaping more time to fill in the holes and more importantly we need to allow the new plants time to bloom and grow.
I personally am not comfortable judging the long term impact at the end of winter, before the park has had a chance to address the problem fully.
Right now there are virtually no leaves on the treesm so even without the clearing, there is substantially more sunlight showing between the trees.
Furthermore, I think we need to give Landscaping more time to fill in the holes and more importantly we need to allow the new plants time to bloom and grow.
I personally am not comfortable judging the long term impact at the end of winter, before the park has had a chance to address the problem fully.
Thanks, horseboy. Those pictures make this whole clearing situation seem not bad at all. Looks completely okay to me. I mean I wasn't there and maybe it's worse in person but based on the pics the clearings don't look quite so much like the bald park I was envisioning.
I noticed that a few years back along 199 they cleared a large swath of trees that had been covering a gas pipeline. Might even be the same pipeline, actually.
Merboy said:
The worst area in my opinion is the area between Italy and the Rhine. It's really strange to be walking by and be able to see the back side of Nessie. That is also the area that I see the leaves coming in doing little good. I am sure the part will do the best that they can given the restrictions that they have to work around. It's also important to remember that this was not the parks choice but something they have to do. One of these shots is the far bank of the Rhine from the par showing that the work goes on after the park property ends
I wish I'd taken a picture of it, but it's so obvious in Italy that they put up a wooden fence to obscure the view. When you look behind the fence, there's just a wide, long swathe of grass surrounded by low shrubbery and vegetation.
Well, as has been said, we'll just have to wait and see what nature and the landscaping dept will do. But I do sincerely appreciate all the reports. I'll be there next weekend and will be able to see for myself. I'll be sure to peek over the obscuring fence! And in a related note, happy first day of Spring, everyone!
The clearing is not as bad as I envisioned. I have great confidence in the Landscape crew that they, along with some banners and themed elements, will make the cleared area not be a eye catching element. Many of the plants that were removed were planted as installed as compliant with the pipeline guidelines, but with a number of years of growth, outgrew the restrictions. When the leaves unfurl I expect the effect will be far less dramatic. Thanks for the pictures!
I was just thinking, there are probably a few people excited about shooting a photo of Nessie from a new angle.
We were joking that the park should set up a Nessie viewing site, complete with coin-operated binocular thingies, in San Marco. Zachary wants it sponsored by the Colonial Pipeline Conpany, as well.
I was expecting the worst when I heard about this but fortunately it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would! Does anyone know if the landscaping department has a plan? It wasn't too bad but to anyone that has gone to the park with a mild frequency it is noticeable immediately.
As we reported in our front page article, Landscaping has been hard at work, trying to mitigate the effects of the clearing. I, personally, am not going to draw any conclusions about the overall impact, until the leaves and new plants grow in.
Nicole said:
From what I understand (based on my geography connections), the reason BGW had to clear out now is it was becoming harder and harder to tell old growth from new growth over the pipeline from surveillance satellites. So the clearing out was to allow them to notice the difference again. Typically they will allow some variances for cases like that over or around strategic national resources like that as long as there's a clear difference between the "old" and "new". The park should be allowed to beautify the area again as long as there's a clear distinction as to where it is.
Nicole said:
In all seriousness, I actually love this idea! It would be a great way to make the clearing look intentional, and to get something positive out of the clearing. I would totally be in favor of that actually happening.
Except for the Colonial Pipeline Company sponsorship thing. Stupid Zachary.
