Monday 3 August 2026 · the day before the primary

The digging has reached the roots.

Overnight a resident found an open excavation within feet of the trunk of one of the oaks, city tag 2688. The cut face is inside the root zone that keeps the tree alive. Ann Arbor was named in 1824 for stands of bur oak exactly like this one, and six to eight of them still stand at this corner. Roots cut at the trunk kill a tree as surely as a saw, only slower.

The oak trunk and the open excavation at the curb, feet apart
The trunk, its exposed roots on the bank, and the open hole at the curb. One frame, feet apart.
The oak trunk with caution tape and an excavator behind it
Caution tape at the base of the tree. The machine is parked across the road from it.
The excavation at the curb showing the cut face and drain pipe
The excavation at the curb: cut face, drain pipe, and severed ground.

What you can do in two minutes

The city has been asked for an emergency Forestry inspection, a hold on digging inside the root zone, and the project's written tree protection plan. Numbers move faster than one letter.

  1. File it in writing, so it cannot be handed off. Use the city's Report a Problem tool or the A2 Fix It app, and choose street tree maintenance. You get a ticket number the city has to answer. Then email trees@a2gov.org, copying the city's urban forestry coordinator. Pre-written; send it as it stands.
    Do not bother phoning. Residents who called the city's published Forestry number were transferred both times to the construction project's own field engineer. That is the wrong direction, because the contractor cannot order a hold on itself. Put it in writing, where it leaves a record and reaches the people whose job is the tree.
  2. Email the project team. Open a pre-written email to the city project manager and the two field engineers, copying Forestry. Change a word or send it as it stands.
  3. Add your name below. It is counted the moment you submit it. The city reads a number, and so does a reporter.
  4. Vote tomorrow. Every candidate on the ballot has been asked where they stand. Their answers are below.

Asked, before the polls open

Every candidate in tomorrow's primary was asked one question: do you support an immediate Forestry hold at Nixon and Argonne? They were also invited to stand together under the oaks before the polls open. Answers appear here as they arrive, in the words they send. Four of the twelve have responded. Three said yes to a hold.

RaceCandidateAnswer
MayorChristopher TaylorResponded. “Our trees are foundational to Ann Arbor — they build and secure community. I have contacted staff for engagement to ensure tree treatment is consistent with our rules.” 3 Aug, 10:27 am, replying to the residents’ complaint; the hold question itself not yet answered
MayorYousef RabhiYes. “I absolutely support a forestry hold. These trees should be protected.” 3 Aug, 1:44 pm
Ward 1Cynthia Harrisonasked 3 Aug, no reply yet
Ward 1Rebecca ArendsYes. “I support having City Forestry assess the situation as quickly as possible and, if warranted, placing a temporary hold on work until the tree’s health and root system can be evaluated.” 3 Aug, 7:54 am
Ward 2Sandy Aldrichasked 3 Aug, no reply yet
Ward 2Teesha Montagueasked 3 Aug, no reply yet
Ward 3Ryan Bartholomewasked 3 Aug, no reply yet
Ward 3Ashley Hallasked 3 Aug, no reply yet
Ward 4Dave ZeglenYes. “I fully support a forestry hold to protect these trees.” 3 Aug, 5:30 pm
Ward 4Aidan Sovaasked 3 Aug, no reply yet
Ward 5Jenn Cornellasked 3 Aug, no reply yet
Ward 5Greg Monroeasked 3 Aug, no reply yet

For reporters: the press release of 3 August, and photographs on request.

The Oaks Ann Arbor Is Named For

Six to eight bur oaks stand at Northbury's Argonne entrance, seeded around 1708. They were sixty-eight years old when the Declaration was signed. Ann Arbor is named for stands like this one. The sewer work has now reached their roots.

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Registered Voters
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Signatures
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Nixon Road Neighbors
Today
~300 years of growth. Roots as wide as the canopy.
This root system is the tree. Damage it and the tree dies — slowly, irreversibly.
After Construction
SEWER TRENCH root zone destroyed
The trench severs everything. The tree starves.
No water. No nutrients. A 300-year-old Bur Oak is dead within years. It cannot be undone.
Construction barricades at the base of the oaks, Argonne Drive sign visible
Barricades already at their roots — Argonne & Nixon
Oak trunk with school construction site directly behind
New school rising behind them — the stakes on both sides
City inventory tag number 912 nailed to the oak bark
City tag #912 — officially catalogued, not forgotten
City inventory tag number 913 nailed to the oak bark
City tag #913 — its companion, same age, same threat
↓ See what the community is saying — scroll down after you sign

Ann Arbor calls itself the city of trees. These oaks are the test.

Your community. Verified. On record.

What the community is saying

Be the first to add your voice and a comment above.

Why This Matters
🌍
A field of attraction — at the scale of a city. A flower draws bees through electromagnetic and chemical signals, creating a living field that sustains an ecosystem far beyond the flower itself. A 300-year-old Bur Oak does the same thing — but at the scale of a neighborhood, a city, a century. It sustains soil microbiomes, insect communities, bird populations, air quality, and human wellbeing in ways science is only beginning to measure. What David Attenborough showed us about the bee and the flower is true here — remove the anchor organism and the whole field collapses. These oaks are that anchor.
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Bur Oaks — the oldest, slowest-growing oaks in Michigan. A measurement of 13 feet in circumference places these trees at an estimated 300+ years old, consistent with ISA forestry methods and a Bur Oak growth factor of 6.4. Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) is the longest-lived oak species in the Great Lakes region, known to survive 300–400 years. These trees are at the outer edge of what any living person will ever see.
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These trees are older than the United States. Established around 1708, they were already 68 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. They were mature trees when George Washington was inaugurated in 1789, when Michigan achieved statehood in 1837, and when the Civil War ended in 1865. No one alive today will see anything like them again — Bur Oaks take centuries to reach this size.
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Older than Michigan, older than Ann Arbor. Michigan was established as a territory in 1805 — these trees were already nearly 100 years old. Ann Arbor was platted in 1824 — these trees were already 116 years old when the first settlers arrived. The University of Michigan moved to Ann Arbor in 1837 — these trees predated U-M's presence by more than a century. When these oaks were saplings, French explorers were still mapping the Great Lakes and the Odawa people were the primary inhabitants of this land.
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Property values and the new school. A new school is being built directly adjacent to Northbury. Our values are rising. The Bur Oaks at our Argonne entrance are part of what makes this the premier address for U-M faculty and medical professionals. Their loss is a direct, irreversible financial harm to 166 units. No new planting can compensate — a replacement tree would take 300 years to reach this size.
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Trenching kills old Bur Oaks. Root systems of trees this age extend far beyond the canopy — often as wide as the tree is tall. For a tree 50 inches in diameter, the root zone extends 50–80 feet in every direction. Sewer pipe installation and road compaction within that zone cuts off water and nutrients. The tree may take years to die visibly, but the damage is done on day one and cannot be reversed.