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Sisters, Oregon
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Big Cascade Avenue pine tree comes down
By Jim Cornelius

The big tree is gone... but not forgotten.

A towering ponderosa pine tree on Cascade Avenue fell to the chainsaw last week, as new construction began on expanded office space for Reed Bros. Realty.

According to Mike Reed, the tree was taken down because of safety concerns. A branch fell off the tree during a severe Halloween windstorm in 1995, striking Sisters businessman John Reuter in the head. Reuter, who was distributing Halloween candy, was injured, but the children who surrounded him when the branch came down were unhurt.

The demise of the tree has sparked some outrage in the Sisters community (see Letters to the Editor). Reuter thinks the outrage is misplaced.

"That tree was going to kill somebody someday," Reuter said. "(Reed) did what he had to do. I'm here by some miracle... that thing didn't kill me."

Back in 1995, Reuter's Fotos in a Flash business was located in the building underneath the tree.

Reuter said Mike Reed had planned to take the tree down when Fotos moved in, in 1993. Reuter, a self-described "tree hugger," talked Reed out of it.

"That came back to bite me," Reuter said.

Mike Reed said that he and his brother Bill had numerous meetings to decide what to do about the tree. They allowed for a 16-foot setback on their new building to accommodate the tree.

"Removing the tree was not an easy decision," Reed said. "We wanted to keep the tree."

Reed said he relied on experts who told him the tree was a "compromised tree" that "wasn't going to make it," and should be cut down now.

"None of us got any joy out of seeing it come down," Reed said.

"We just thought it was the right decision."

While Sisters is proud of its trees, cutting one down on private property is not any business of the City of Sisters.

City codes do not require preservation of trees on private property.

"It's encouraged that trees be retained but it's not required," said city planner Neil Thompson.

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