When I called the Park District on Monday to find out about tree damage, I called the Natural Resources Manager. I did not call out to Trek, but it turns out I should have, because that we had some significant damage out there, including damage to exhibit as well as many other animal areas, viewing pavilions, fencing and pathways that were severely damaged. The director reported to the board that in 30 years, he'd never seen so much damage out there. We expect that Trek will be closed through February 17. Above is the beaver, who was cleaning up her own Read more…

Flipping through Facebook last Thursday and Friday, it felt like a series of pictures of downed trees and branches. I talked to Joe Brady, Metro Parks' Natural Resource Manager, about how Metro Parks did since we, you know … have a lot of trees. Our developed parks came through it pretty well. Some downed branches, of course, but no major issues that we've discovered so far (and assessments are still ongoing). Metro Parks regularly prunes its trees in the developed parks–and by developed I mostly mean the parks with a lot of grass, playfields, Wapato Lake, Wright Park, etc.–so many Read more…