The city of Salem, Oregon ordered a local private business to remove a mural featuring a patriotic display of the flag-raising at Iwo Jima during WWII.
Oregon white oaks are iconic trees in the Willamette Valley. Sure, they re more sturdy than sexy with their gnarled branches twisting from stout trunks and canopies of leaves budding from broad crowns, but they are noticed and appreciated in parks, on farms and vineyards, and at private residences.
And, they re protected in Salem by city ordinance.
Despite their historical and cultural value to this community and the region, they ve been vanishing from the landscape for the past two centuries.
Many of our old white oaks were hit hard by the recent ice storm, and two professors at Willamette University are hoping to salvage data from the carnage with your help.