Ryan Kath | NECN | August 5, 2021
When we bumped into Jack Flanagan along VFW Parkway and told him we were working on a story about the health of the historic trees, his eyes lit up.
Flanagan told us to hang tight as he ran into his home and retrieved his iPad. When he reemerged, he showed us photos of a tree that fell into his driveway and caused $8,000 damage to his car in June 2020.
“Luckily, it didn’t hit the house, because it would’ve wiped it out,” Flanagan said.
The West Roxbury resident of more than 30 years then asked if he could take us for a drive. As we cruised down VFW Parkway in his car, Flanagan repeatedly pointed at dead branches, large cracks in trunks, or fungus growing at bases and asked, “Does that tree look healthy?”
There is a reason Flanagan is on edge. Aside from the large tree that toppled near his home, Flanagan has observed several other trees fall around the neighborhood in recent years. And he thinks it’s only a matter of time before the next one goes.
“The DCR knows they have a tree problem, but they won’t cut the trees down,” Flanagan said.
So, is he right? Does the Department of Conservation of Recreation have a problem with the towering trees that straddle historic parkways traveled by thousands of drivers and enjoyed by pedestrians every day?
We first started looking into the topic when a co-worker at NBC10 Boston saw a large tree that fell and blocked lanes of traffic along VFW Parkway on a calm summer day. We asked what caused the tree to fall and how often the parkway trees are inspected.
After nearly a month — and numerous follow-up emails — a DCR spokesperson said the tree “may have been dead or dying based on a multitude of factors.”
The agency’s response also said management of the 400 lane miles of parkway trees is handled by a contractor, but did not address our inquiry about how often the trees are inspected and when the last review of VFW Parkway trees occurred.
Around that time, we obtained a copy via public records request of a DCR-commissioned 2019 report that assessed the health of about 10,000 trees along 14 different DCR parkways.
In its summary, the report concluded that only 2% of the trees could be assessed in “good condition.”
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