FALLEN DOUGLAS FIR WORTH $35,000 AND 49 NEW TREES IN OPENING OF
TALKS OVER CODE VIOLATION

“It looks like I’ll be planting the Rutledge Logging Memorial Forest for the city
of Gresham. Hopefully they won’t want any statues or benches.”

That was the assessment of Tom Rutledge, 62, of Welches, and owner of
Rutledge Logging & Tree Works, regarding the ongoing negotiations with
Gresham officials.

The city levied a civil fine ($35,000) and mitigation penalty (planting 49 trees)
against Rutledge and holds him jointly and severally liable with the developer
for the cutting of a Douglas fir in November on the property of the Persimmon
Homeowner’s Association.

According to Gresham Assistant City Attorney Ashley Berman, those penalties
are presently being discussed with Rutledge and his attorney.

“We are in the process of settling with Mr. Rutledge, but it’s not finalized,”
Berman told The Mountain Times. “The amount is being negotiated down.

That amount was $35,000 for the code violation, determined by its aboreal
value, and mitigation planting of 49 five-foot tall Douglas firs to replace the
fallen tree.”

The number of trees in the “Rutledge Logging Memorial Forest” was
determined by 49 2-inch caliper trunks versus the 98-inch caliper trunk of the
original tree, according to Berman.

When asked whether justice was being fair and balanced in this incident,
Berman responded: “I understand your question, but I can’t necessarily
comment. I will say it’s unfortunate.”

Rutledge was hired by developer Matthew Morrell — of Gresham’s Morrell &
Morrell, Inc. — to cut down the tree because a prospective buyer of a Morrell
property on S.E. Deer Creek said the tree was blocking the view of Mount
Hood. The falling of the tree was a condition of the sale.

One week after the tree came down, the house sold for $785,000.
“The tree was probably still shaking when the buyer signed the papers,”
Rutledge said.

Despite his enduring sense of humor, the Welches logger is looking at
considerable personal loss.

“For simply doing my job, I could lose my house, my land and everything I
own,” Rutledge said. “I live next to the Sandy River, but I fear the grinding
wheels of bureaucracy far more than the threat of an angry body of water.
I’ve never been hammered like this before.”

The city claims Rutledge should have determined that the property was not on
Morrell’s development site before cutting the tree.

“Right,” Rutledge said. “For me to determine legal ownership of that tree, I’d
have to commission a survey, go through county records, figure out if the
property in question was in escrow, had dual ownership, and whatever, just to
do my job. If I operated like that a $150 tree-cutting would cost me $10,000."

As to the negotiations, Rutledge has turned that over to his attorney.

“I’m aware of negotiations, but it’s in his hands,” he said. “While everyone
else was going to college, I was fighting a war. I don’t talk legal-speak. I
assume he’ll get me the best deal possible.”

Berman was not insensitive to Rutledge’s plight.

“The city is encouraging of people’s livelihood,” she said. “But it also has an
obligation to uphold the law.”