`Native' tree being kept safe

On Pearl Street, near Patrick Lane, stands a 100-year-old anomaly.

Surrounded by a small fence, the lone cat claw acacia tree, about 35 feet in height, has persevered for more than a century in the desert. Behind the tree, wood frames are being erected, evidence of new homes to come. There's a striking contrast between the untouched tree and its distant brethren, the beams that were once trees themselves before being sacrificed for the sake of growth.

But this particular tree will remain, for the time being at least, relatively untouched by human hands or chain saws. Labeled a "native" tree, because of its indigenous occurrence in the Mojave desert, it has been named a state champion by the Nevada Division of Forestry.

Norm Schilling, arborist and president of Schilling Horticulture Group, said the tree is an amazing specimen. Schilling has worked with residents and the Southern Nevada Arborist Group for the last few months in an effort to ensure the tree's protection.

"When I first saw it, I thought it was a mesquite," Schilling said. "It usually grows as a shrub, pretty close to the ground."

Schilling initially noticed the tree when Suzanne Lucas, an animal and tree lover who lived next door to the proposed development, asked him to do a consultation for another nearby tree.

After much protest by surrounding residents, the Clark County Commission granted zoning approval on the residential development, and the tree was in danger of being swept away with the rest of the garbage on the vacant lot. But Schilling, Lucas and other neighborhood residents and local tree lovers thought even if they couldn't save the lot the tree sits on, the tree itself was still worth saving.

"It's the largest one on record in Nevada," said Schilling of the leafless tree that appears to be almost dead. "I'm a real tree guy and I think this tree is just amazing."

Schilling and Lucas eventually persuaded the developer of the apartments to keep the tree on as part of the landscape. Schilling said the tree rescue might not have been possible without the help of the landscape architect for the project, Jack Zunino of JW Zunino & Associates.

Several months later, amid construction, the tree still stands. Its branches have grown out to touch a corner area of the new housing frames, and Schilling realizes that portions of the tree will have to be trimmed. He and other members of the Southern Nevada Arborist Group are planning a group pruning sometime in the near future.

The group plans to keep a close eye on the tree until the apartments are built and it is no longer in danger of having its roots damaged by construction. Already, there have been some close calls.

"They literally had the chain saws raised when someone drove up and told them they weren't supposed to harm the tree," Schilling said.

After all the time and resistance Schilling and Lucas have put in, there is no guarantee that the tree will remain on the lot for the rest of its natural life.

"We can't really do anything if they decide they want to tear it down," Schilling said. "We told the developer that he had a state champion tree here, and he's been kind enough to leave it, but there are no laws protecting it."

No matter how temporary the solution may be, Schilling thinks the process has yielded a win on behalf of the protection of desert vegetation.

"It really feels like a victory," he said. "On private property, people can plant and save as many trees as they want, but it seems that all of our natural resources get bulldozed."


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