Illegal bike trail damages Forest Park trees

By Teri Ruch

This morning’s OPB story by Rob Manning features a video that OPB Oregon Field Guide producer Vince Patton made of illegal trail creation in north Forest Park.

Here is a portion of the caught-on-video confrontation in text:

Vince Patton:  “Are you putting in a legal trail? Do you have permission to be here?”

Man: “Oh, I’m not putting in anything.”

Vince Patton: “Sounded like you said you were trying to clear this spot.”

Man: “Well, that’s a problem.”

Vince Patton: “So you can ride over here instead, right?”

Man: “So people who want to use the trail can avoid those puddles. There are obvious drainage issues.”

In a similar story in today’s Oregonian, Commissioner Nick Fish called the destruction “outrageous.”

“It’s terrible they did it, but I understand right now they’re not getting anything,” he told The Oregonian.

Those who attended Friends of Trees’ Leadership Awards Luncheon last May will remember Vince Patton’s recollection of his first experience with trees as a toddler, when he scooped and carried water from his kiddie pool to a nearby tree in need, and his engaging manner as he emceed the event.

Vince has been a crew leader at Friends of Trees and also contributed great photos of our plantings.

Read more about the illegal trail and Commissioner Fish’s response by reading the full OPB story here. The Oregonian’s version of the story is here, too.