An editorial in the Post and Courier this week asked for more room for the Angel Oak to thrive beyond it’s immediate growth area. “The Angel Oak needs space. Lots of it. Its limbs are each the size of large trees – the longest 89 feet in length and more than 11 feet in circumference. And while the City of Charleston park provides room for the limbs to reach up and bend over until they skim the ground, trees need natural space beyond their immediate area.”
Another statement reads: “It seems most agree now that the Angel Oak area is better preserved in its natural state – not in an area teeming with apartment rentals. The lights, noise, runoff and congestion that come with an apartment complex aren’t in the best interest of the tree. Plans for the site include trails and educational markers so the public, already enchanted by the Angel Oak, can enhance its appreciation of the magnificent specimen. That experience would be diminished by a major apartment complex on an adjacent tract. And it wouldn’t be good for the tree, either. Now is the time to preserve the remaining 17 acres of land and to learn from zoning mistakes that put the tree in jeopardy.”
Lowcountry Open Land Trust will continue to work to preserve the second 17 acres adjacent to the Angel Oak so it has more space to thrive!
