200 yards of trees below Martyrs Park cut without permission, official says
Someone cut down trees along more than a 200-yard-long stretch of the Mississippi River bank, below the edge of Martyrs Park.
The swath of felled trees extends from the blufftop to the water.
The cutter or cutters spared a half-dozen of the tallest, most mature trees near or at the top of the steep slope.
But the tall river bank was essentially clear cut. Scores of trees were severed amid the rough underbrush that provides animal habitat and soil stability.
From the water to the blufftop, someone cut the trees below Martyrs Park. (Tom Bailey/Daily Memphian)
“I can confirm that no permission was granted to cut the trees below Martyrs Park,” George Abbott wrote in an email response to questions from The Daily Memphian. He is spokesman for the Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP).
Martyrs Park is one of 13 parks or greenbelts the MRPP manages for Memphis.
“We checked with the Corps (of Engineers) and no permit was issued,” Abbott said. “We also checked with the city and they issued no approval nor did any city crews perform the work.”
Landscape artist Matthew Lee drove to Martyrs Park Tuesday afternoon, April 20, to paint the old Harahan Bridge.
“I saw it immediately,” he said of the missing trees.
“I just feel a sadness for the trees,” he said. “Trees are a form of life like anything else. I hate to see things killed unless it’s really necessary.”
Looking across Martyrs Park toward the Mississippi River from the fence protecting the Founders Pointe houses. Such views may have been made possible by the cutting of the trees growing on the river bank. (Tom Bailey/Daily Memphian)
Memphis River Parks Partnership turned the matter over to the city.
But the organization does know that the tree-cutting happened the afternoon of March 10, a Wednesday. Someone reported the incident shortly after it occurred.
This unauthorized cutting occurred just three days before a similar, but apparently unrelated incident. Two mature magnolias were cut without permission a half-mile upriver, high above Tom Lee Park and just below Downtown’s blufftop houses on Magnolia Mound.
“Just like cutting of trees on the bluff above Tom Lee Park, this cutting removes habitat and could negatively impact bluff stability,” Abbott said.
Any alteration below the river’s high-water mark requires a Corps of Engineers permit because the bank borders a navigable channel of the Mississippi.
A section of undisturbed river bank immediately north of Martyrs Park, near River Tower condos. This may be how the Martyrs Park bank looked before the trees were cut. (Tom Bailey/Daily Memphian)
The closest residences to the bank are about a dozen houses that comprise the gated, Founders Pointe subdivision of single-family homes. Those homes line the eastern edge of Martyrs Park.
“Over the years, homeowners have made requests of the Partnership to trim or remove trees in this location but our responsibility and authority extends only to the edge of the bluff,” Abbott said.
“We do not have the equipment necessary to work on the bluff and in the past trimming or removal has been performed by city crews from Public Works,” he said.
The city administration had not responded to questions about the incident or any investigation by Thursday afternoon.
The Corps of Engineers suggested The Daily Memphian submit questions through a Freedom of Information request, but also had not responded by Thursday.
Topics
Memphis River Parks Partnership Martyrs Park treesTom Bailey
Tom Bailey retired in January as a business reporter at The Daily Memphian, and after 40 years in journalism. A Tupelo, Mississippi, native, he graduated from Mississippi State University. He has lived in Midtown for 36 years.
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