UPDATE 11:15AM Dec. 3
Asplundh Tree Expert Co. employees were up on lifts on Monday Dec. 3 to begin the process of removing 22 trees along Jacobsen Road SW. Kerry Castle, ISA Certified Arborist of Asplundh said they had until the rest of the year to complete the project but said they should be done by Thursday.

Original Post
Seattle Parks & Recreation has identified 22 hazardous Alder trees on Jacobsen Road SW and is hiring a contractor to remove them. The road meets Beach Drive SW at the south end of the Me-Kwa-Mooks natural area. All the trees identified have either dead tops, advanced decay, severe leans and/or compromised structure. All have been rated at 11 points out of 12 on the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA): http://www.isa-arbor.com/ hazard evaluation form, according to Dewey Potter, Parks Communication Manager.

Signage has been posted for several months indicating that they are to be removed. Potter said that "One neighbor responded that she was concerned about migratory bird nesting, so Parks delayed the project until well after nesting season. In the field, several neighbors have expressed concerns about the trees because of falling branches or failing trees, and are happy that we are taking action. There is parking along the road and frequent pedestrian and vehicle traffic, which is endangered by falling limbs or whole tree failures. There have been several whole tree failures across the street in the past several years. The tree crew has done clearance and hazard mitigation pruning within the past year, but based on their aerial inspections, they report that the trees had defects that pruning could not correct. Given the species and conditions of the trees and site conditions, our professional arborists think that removing these trees is a necessary action to protect people and property."

Asplundh Tree Expert Co. won the bid for the work. The contractor will be responsible for traffic control and chipping and removing logs. They will start work on Monday December 3.