Judge pays off debt for cutting park trees

Nearly four years after more than 120 cherry and maple trees were cut down in Colman Park to create a better lake view, a federal judge has fully paid off his debt to the city.

Senior Judge Jerome Farris of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has paid a total of $618,000, city officials said Friday.

It's the result of a settlement reached in 2003, in which the judge agreed to pay $500,000 plus 12 percent interest.

Farris maintained that the trees were cut through a series of misunderstandings over an old city agreement and through miscommunication with his Vietnamese gardener, who felled the trees.

"It's a very interesting situation, and who knows what the truth is. Do I think it was a fair punishment for what he did? No," said Nannette Martin, a Mount Baker resident and Colman Park advocate.

"But the money is doing fabulous things -- every park should be so lucky."

The settlement money has been used to remove stumps, replant native trees and shrubs and clear invasive species throughout the 24-acre park. It has also paid for a full-time gardener to coordinate the many volunteer-powered restoration projects happening there.

For three years, participants in a youth program teaching environmental ethics and job skills have contributed heavy labor.

Steve Dubiel, who works on parks issues for the Mount Baker Community Club, said that given the city's anemic budget for forestry and vegetation maintenance, funneling that much money into one park has made a big difference.

He is also the executive director of EarthCorps, an environmental service organization that helped restore a trail that was part of the Olmsted brothers' original design when they laid out Colman Park in the early 1900s. It had become overgrown and largely impassable.

"It's sad the trees were cut, and it obviously shouldn't have happened, but with those funds, really incredible work has taken place, and the forest has really been transformed," he said.

Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr, who decided three years ago not to pursue criminal charges in the case, said the payment is proof that the city takes such acts seriously. The $618,000 is roughly three times what the parks department estimated it would cost simply to replant trees that were cut.

"The city's ultimate goal was to ensure that Judge Farris paid a significant penalty for the damage to Colman Park and to deter others from cutting down city trees to improve their views," he said in a statement.

Efforts on Friday to reach Farris, who retired from full-time judicial duties in 1995, were unsuccessful. The judge's last payment was received this week following the sale of his house, city officials said.

Parks Superintendent Ken Bounds said that the message should be clear that cutting publicly owned trees for personal gain is "illegal and wrong." He said the city will continue to use the funds to restore the park.

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