The school district’s plan to cut down 100 trees at Ingraham High School has been blocked by a judge [Times]. The district wants to cut remove about 70 healthy trees and 30 diseased ones in order to build an addition to the school. The other side, a group called Save Our Trees, “said the trees are more than an urban forest, in that they are a migration corridor for birds and habitat for other animals.” The judge thinks that the group has a “well-grounded fear,” and a hearing date has been set. The school district is pretty sure that the end result will be in their favor. I think it muddles the question a little to throw the sick trees, which should be cut down, in with the healthy ones who could maybe stick around.

In Fremont, a newly designated “Heritage Tree” has been (apparently poorly) pruned by a developer, resulting in neighborhood-wide mourning [Times]. Being a Heritage Tree means that you’re the best of your kind in the city. There are 60 such trees in the Seattle, and this one was the only weeping poplar. The developer says that he wasn’t sure the tree would make it through another winter, and the city’s arborists say that now that it’s been pruned, that’s probably true. The whole story appears to be one of intrigue and betrayal, with conflicting stories from all of the witnesses. A list of other Heritage Trees is here, in case you want to build a fence around yours.