Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Tales...Story 8: Love me from a distance: The Pacific Madrone Tree

Narration: IF THE PACIFIC MADRONE WERE HUMAN, YOU MIGHT USE TERMS LIKE “HIGHLY SENSTIVE”, “CLANNISH,” “PRONE TO SICKNESS” AND MAYBE EVEN “FREQUENTLY MISUNDERSTOOD.” LIKE HUMANS, THE MADRONE LIKES TO LIVE CLOSE TO THE BEACH AND IDEALLY WITH A SUNNY, SOUTHERN EXPOSURE …PLACES LIKE MAGNOLIA BLUFF IN SEATTLE. VALERIE CHOLVIN LIVES TWO BLOCKS FROM THE BLUFF AND ADORES THE MADRONE TREES. AN OIL PAINTING SHOWING PUGET SOUND, MOUNT RAINIER AND A MADRONE TREE HANGS IN HER LIVING ROOM.

Valerie Cholvin: The branches are rather irregular, kind of crooked in an artistic way and the barkas i said before is very orangey red, and when the sun sets it hits that bark and it is just absolutely beautiful.

Narration: CHOLVIN’S OIL PAINTING IS PROBABLY AS CLOSE AS SHE SHOULD GET TO A MADRONE. THEY CAN’T COMPETE WITH HUMANS, EVEN THOUGH, LIKE PEOPLE, THEY OFTEN PICK THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SPOTS ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST TO LIVE. THEIR CHOICE OF LOCATION OFTEN MAKES PROPERTY OWNERS TWITCHING TO USE THEIR CHAINSAWS TO RETAIN THEIR VIEWS. TEN YEARS AGO, A CONTROVERSY WAS SPARKED WHEN UNDER PRESSURE FROM SOME WEALTHY RESIDENTS, SEATTLE’S PARKS DEPARTMENT REMOVED A NUMBER OF TREES FROM MAGNOLIA BLUFF.

Valerie Cholvin: When the parks department was cutting down the trees to improve people’s views, people stopped their cars and begged them to stop cutting these trees because they liked them so much. They signify magnolia boulevard to me and the northwest.

Narration: BUT MADRONES ARE A SHY TREE - THEY CAN’T STAND A LOT OF ATTENTION. FOR ITS PART, THE PARKS DEPARTMENT THOUGHT THE TREES IT CUT WERE DYING. THEY WEREN’T, ACCORDING TO AB ADAMS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON. HE LEAD A STUDY OF THE MAGNOLIA BLUFF MADRONES 10 YEARS AGO AND FOUND THAT THE WELL-LOVED TREES CAN BE LOVED, WELL, TOO MUCH.

Adams: They really don’t do very well in golf clubs. People will clear an area, leave isolated Madrones that over a hundred years old alone and they quickly deteriorate. A lot of people like to have it in their yard, it looks really great growing in lawns but unfortunately Madrones like to be left alone.

Narration: A CASE IN POINT IS A LONE PACIFIC MADRONE TREE PERCHED BETWEEN MAGNOLIA BOULEVARD AND THE FENCED EDGE OF THE BLUFF. ADAMS STROLLS OVER TO IT. HE POINTS OUT CANKERS, LUMPS ON THE EXTERIOR OF THE TREE CAUSED BY A FUNGAL INFECTION.

Adams: And it will encircle the branches. You can see some of the branches encircled and cut off the flow of nutrients from the leaves and to the leaves and kill the tree out-right sometimes. You can see what appears to be a gnarl two feet above the tree here.

Narration: The fungus lives in the environment and as long as the Madrone is not damaged is able to protect itself. But when humans enter the picture, the fungus often finds a way to infect the tree.

Adams: And this is another possible reason for the decline of the Madrones.
The soil has been disturbed and there is so much wind here that it has blown away and the level of the soil has dropped two feet. When that happens, you get a lot of root flaring.

Narration: THE EXPOSED ROOTS THEN GET TRAMPLED BY PEOPLE AND LAWNMOWERS DRIVE OVER THEM, SAYS ADAMS. The resulting injury gives the fungus an opportunity to enter the tree’s system, eventually killing the Madrone. EVEN HEALTHY MADRONES ARE NOT VERY TOUGH WHEN IT COMES TO HUMAN ACTIVITY. ONE MAGNICIFENT SPECIMEN WAS LAUDED WITH A NATIONAL HERITAGE TREE DESIGNATION IN A CEREMONY ATTENDED BY CITY DIGNITARIES. VALERIE CHOLVIN.

Valerie Cholvin: Over the years we’ve just watched it, one part get sick and another part. It’s got maybe a few more years in it but… it is not very attractive. i do know during the ceremony that kids climbed on the tree because it was so much fun. It bothered me that they were climbing on the tree but they didn’t know, it was a good way to introduce the fungus into the tree.

Narration: NATURE’S METHOD OF TACKLING THE FUNGUS IS FIRE - BUT NO-ONE SEES THAT AS AN OPTION IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA OF EXPENSIVE HOMES. FORTUNATELY, NOT ALL THE MADRONE TREES ALONG THE BOULEVARD OR ELSEWHERE ARE IN TROUBLE. Where groups of them are left untouched, them seem to be thriving.

Adams: When Madrones are clustered together they don’t get as cold and when they grew by bodies of water they don’t get as cold so they can survive the winters here. We also found that the soil is really important, they like sandy, well drained soil.

Narration: WHILE OLDER SPECIMENS NEARBY SUCCUMB TO DISEASE, NEW TREES ARE SPROUTING - PLANTED BY THE SEATTLE’S PARKS DEPARTMENT. ADAMS STOPS TO INSPECT ONE.

Adams: Here are some transplants and they are doing quite good. They don’t have grass, they have mulched the area…we are looking at ¾ meter tall saplings, little bit of herbivore going on, some bugs on it…but they’re doing okay. It will be fun to follow them.

Narration: KEEPING MADRONES WITH THEIR OWN KIND - WHAT YOU MIGHT CALL THEIR ARBOREAL CLAN - IS THE KEY TO THEIR SURVIVAL. THAT, AND SAYS ADAMS, JUST LEAVING THEM ALONE. FOR SOUNDPRINT, I’M GORDON BLACK.