On April 1st, 2026, the oldest tree in Salem, Oregon, was going to be cut down. A 380 year old tree, coming to an end. Fungus, it was said. The tree was no longer safe, the wood was no longer strong, a branch could break and cause damage to buildings or people.
On March 10th, 2026, an article in the Salem Reporter lamented the impending “death by chainsaw.” According to the article, the fungus was first observed in 2020. The official name for the fungus isganoderma, sometimes called a “conk.” Here is Wikipedia’s image of a specimen.
A similarly large tree, across the street, “only” 150 years old, was also slated for removal. This tree had not a case of the conks, but inonotus dryadeus, a related fungus also called “oak bracket” or even “weeping conk.” Again, a picture courtesy of Wikipedia:
Notices were first placed on the trees on March 1st, 30 days in advance of removal, rather than the usually 15, to give the public extra time to comment.
I visited the oldest tree in Salem a few days before April 1st. I tried to make a sketch of the ancient tree that was soon to be no more. These things are of course hard to capture. The thing I like about my sketch is just how big the trunk is compared to the house in the background. I did not observe any conks, weeping or otherwise, although I am a novice mushroom hunter at best and I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking for.
Here is the notice that was on the tree that day:
The key information here seems to be as follows. They note that the fungal decay may be severe: “Columns of decay associated with Ganoderma can extend as far as 15’ in both directions.” And the conk fungus attacks all parts of the trunk: “both sapwood and heartwood.” There also seems to be a jab at the local power company PGE, faulting them for “excessive pruning.” And the notice cites various reasons for the removal of the tree, including “close proximity to the residence,” “school and pedestrian traffic,” and “a highly traveled road.” Alarming imagery about “complete failures and snap at the base” associated with fungal growth is mentioned.
Two days later, I went back to visit the site, expecting to see only a giant stump. But the tree was still standing (in fact both of them!). A new notice was attached to the tree.
It was a relief! The tree wasn’t cut after all? But why didn’t they do sonic tomography before? And what about the concern about “complete failure and snap at base”? The whole thing didn’t quite line up. I am not part of the neighborhood to know the whole story, so all I could do was read the signs.
I was curious where the “at least 380 years old” estimate come from and it seems that no one really knows. Generally, the following procedure is used to estimate a tree’s age.
- Measure the tree’s circumference in inches at a height of 4.5 feet (54″) above the ground.
- Divide the circumference by 3.14159 (pi) to get the diameter at breast height (DBH).
- Multiply the DBH by the tree’s species-specific growth factor.
- The result is the approximate age of the tree.
And the “species-specific growth factor” for Oregon White oaks is quite a high number (5 to 7 according to some estimates) because it is such a slow growing tree. The thing is, though, that this is just an estimate and the only way to really know how old the tree is is to count its rings. There are various reasons a tree’s size (or DBH as the pros say), might not correspond to the tree’s age. For example, the tree could in fact have multiple stems that grew together into one trunk.
However, regardless of the accuracy of the estimate of the tree’s age (or lack thereof), the tree has seen some things. The house that sits right next to the tree was built in 1890, and the area was probably just forest and oak savannah before that. 1890 was “only” a 130 years ago, a fraction of the tree’s life. Three years before, in 1887, the East School was constructed, right across the street, an absolutely spectacular building it seems from photos of the time. It was demolished in 1949, making way for the Safeway that stands on the lot today.
But soon enough, after a brief reprieve and a moment of hope, the oldest tree in Salem will be cut down after all. It seems as though it was decided on April 29th, 2026, that the results of the sonic tomography — using sound waves to look in the tree — indicated “a significant amount of compromised wood.” As of early May, no date for its removal has been announced.