Oak gets stay from chopping block
Print
Email
Save
Reprints
Twitter
Share
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
LAKELAND — An ancient live oak with a literary heritage was scheduled to be toppled, but has at least a temporary reprieve.
Normally, Pointe Coupee Parish Police Jury President Melanie Bueche opens jury meetings with a prayer, but on Tuesday, she talked about a special concern — the 400-year-old oak tree about 150 feet from her home.
On the morning of July 4, she said, a huge limb fell from the tree, called by some people, “The Miss Jane Pittman Oak.”
Bueche said the tree’s trunk is 27 feet in circumference, and the downed limb measures 12 feet around.
Since the tree is on the right of way of La. 416, the state Department of Transportation and Development was called. Bueche said DOTD personnel told her the tree had much decay, and needs to be cut down.
One of the first people Bueche said she called to tell about the endangered tree was Earnest Gaines, a former Pointe Coupee resident and renowned writer serving as author-in-residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Gaines has often sat in the shade of the tree, and it was the inspiration for scenes in his novel and motion picture, “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.”
County Agent Miles Brashier, who attended the Police Jury meeting Tuesday, advised Bueche to keep the tree from being felled until he could get a professional to look into the matter.
“It took 400 years for that tree to get to this point,” Brashier said. “Who knows how many more years it could stand?”
Brashier, after examining the tree the next day, told Bueche he thinks it could live for another 100 years. He said he has arranged for an arborist from LSU to inspect the tree the week of July 21.
He also told Bueche to tell DOTD that the oak is a “significant tree,” and that it should not be chopped down until it can be examined by a professional.
Bueche relayed the message: Plans to fell the tree are on hold.
Normally, Pointe Coupee Parish Police Jury President Melanie Bueche opens jury meetings with a prayer, but on Tuesday, she talked about a special concern — the 400-year-old oak tree about 150 feet from her home.
On the morning of July 4, she said, a huge limb fell from the tree, called by some people, “The Miss Jane Pittman Oak.”
Bueche said the tree’s trunk is 27 feet in circumference, and the downed limb measures 12 feet around.
Since the tree is on the right of way of La. 416, the state Department of Transportation and Development was called. Bueche said DOTD personnel told her the tree had much decay, and needs to be cut down.
One of the first people Bueche said she called to tell about the endangered tree was Earnest Gaines, a former Pointe Coupee resident and renowned writer serving as author-in-residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Gaines has often sat in the shade of the tree, and it was the inspiration for scenes in his novel and motion picture, “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.”
County Agent Miles Brashier, who attended the Police Jury meeting Tuesday, advised Bueche to keep the tree from being felled until he could get a professional to look into the matter.
“It took 400 years for that tree to get to this point,” Brashier said. “Who knows how many more years it could stand?”
Brashier, after examining the tree the next day, told Bueche he thinks it could live for another 100 years. He said he has arranged for an arborist from LSU to inspect the tree the week of July 21.
He also told Bueche to tell DOTD that the oak is a “significant tree,” and that it should not be chopped down until it can be examined by a professional.
Bueche relayed the message: Plans to fell the tree are on hold.
 | ||||
| Most Popular | Most Emailed | Hot Topics | ||
