I just wanted to say thanks so much for informing your readers about Friends of Trees. You provide a great service, especially these days with the decline of news coverage, and we’re appreciative of your efforts.

Regarding tree roots, this is a common issue with tenured Portland home owners. The city did plant thousands of trees several decades ago. That poor planning resulted in cracked sidewalks and fruit trees clogging up street drains.

Friends of Trees, established 20 years ago, works with the Bureau of Environmental Services and Department of Urban Forestry to inspect street tree locations, ensuring proper planting techniques.
Here is an example of this cooperation from our blog: http://friendsoftrees.org/blog/2009/09/09/hi-i-noticed-you-have-room-for-a-street-tree/

Our objective is to enhance the urban canopy of Portland for the long haul, and we can’t do that if we’re costing home owners money. We have trained tree specialists and an arborist on staff that work on our native tree lists, and we also provided discounted yard trees from a variety of local nurseries.

Thanks again for all your work and let me know if I can help with anything in the future,

Toshio Suzuki
IT Coordinator
503-282-8846 ext. 16
http://www.FriendsofTrees.org/blog