Cherry Trees to Be Removed in Washington Improvement Project
2024-03-30
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Washington D.C. officials say some of the city's famous cherry trees will need to be cut down as part of a major improvement project.
2Up to 1.5 million people are expected to visit America's capital in the early spring to attend the city's National Cherry Blossom Festival.
3The event celebrates Japan's 1912 gift to the city of about 3,000 cherry trees.
4During the festival, blossoms on the cherry trees are in full bloom.
5The main part of the festival takes place around Washington's Tidal Basin, the area near the Jefferson Memorial that has many cherry trees.
6But the Tidal Basin - which is connected to the nearby Potomac River - is in need of repairs. Currently, when water levels rise, flooding puts some trees under several centimeters of water.
7The improvement work will aim to build up and improve an old seawall meant to hold back the floodwaters.
8The U.S. National Park Service oversees the Tidal Basin, as well as the large green area of downtown Washington D.C. known as the National Mall.
9Officials say about 300 trees - including nearly 160 cherry trees - will be cut down during the work.
10After the improvements, about 300 trees will be planted as replacements.
11Mike Litterst is a spokesman for the National Park Service.
12He told The Associated Press (AP) the $133 million project is expected to take about three years.
13"It's certainly going to benefit the visitor experience, and that's very important to us," Litterst said.
14But he added that most of all, it would "benefit the cherry trees, who right now are every day, twice a day, seeing their roots inundated with the brackish water of the Tidal Basin."
15Litterst said the removed trees will be ground up and mixed with nutrient rich soil to be used to protect the roots of surviving trees.
16This way, the effort can be seen as providing "a good second life" for the trees being cut down, he added.
17One of the trees set to be removed from around the Tidal Basin received so much attention in 2020 that it became a social media star.
18The tree, nicknamed Stumpy, is short and oddly shaped compared to others in the area.
19At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stumpy's popularity led to the sale of many tree-related materials.
20The tree was also a common spot for visitors to take "selfies" while standing next to Stumpy.
21Officials said the U.S. National Arboretum came up with a way to save the memory of Stumpy.
22Scientists plan to capture genetic material and use it to create new copies, or clones, of the famous tree.
23Organizers of the yearly event said that because of changing climate, the festival's "peak bloom" is beginning earlier and earlier.
24The peak period describes when at least 70 percent of the city's 3,700 cherry trees will be flowering.
25This year, peak bloom was expected to happen on March 23, the AP reports.
26But the official start of the event ended up being declared on March 17.
27By comparison, 2013's peak bloom began on April 9.
28Leslie Frattaroli is national resources program manager for the Park Service.
29She told the AP in February that peak bloom could regularly come in the middle of March by 2050.
30I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Washington D.C. officials say some of the city's famous cherry trees will need to be cut down as part of a major improvement project. 2Up to 1.5 million people are expected to visit America's capital in the early spring to attend the city's National Cherry Blossom Festival. The event celebrates Japan's 1912 gift to the city of about 3,000 cherry trees. 3During the festival, blossoms on the cherry trees are in full bloom. The main part of the festival takes place around Washington's Tidal Basin, the area near the Jefferson Memorial that has many cherry trees. 4But the Tidal Basin - which is connected to the nearby Potomac River - is in need of repairs. Currently, when water levels rise, flooding puts some trees under several centimeters of water. The improvement work will aim to build up and improve an old seawall meant to hold back the floodwaters. 5The U.S. National Park Service oversees the Tidal Basin, as well as the large green area of downtown Washington D.C. known as the National Mall. Officials say about 300 trees - including nearly 160 cherry trees - will be cut down during the work. After the improvements, about 300 trees will be planted as replacements. 6Mike Litterst is a spokesman for the National Park Service. He told The Associated Press (AP) the $133 million project is expected to take about three years. "It's certainly going to benefit the visitor experience, and that's very important to us," Litterst said. 7But he added that most of all, it would "benefit the cherry trees, who right now are every day, twice a day, seeing their roots inundated with the brackish water of the Tidal Basin." 8Litterst said the removed trees will be ground up and mixed with nutrient rich soil to be used to protect the roots of surviving trees. This way, the effort can be seen as providing "a good second life" for the trees being cut down, he added. 9One of the trees set to be removed from around the Tidal Basin received so much attention in 2020 that it became a social media star. The tree, nicknamed Stumpy, is short and oddly shaped compared to others in the area. 10At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stumpy's popularity led to the sale of many tree-related materials. The tree was also a common spot for visitors to take "selfies" while standing next to Stumpy. 11Officials said the U.S. National Arboretum came up with a way to save the memory of Stumpy. Scientists plan to capture genetic material and use it to create new copies, or clones, of the famous tree. 12Organizers of the yearly event said that because of changing climate, the festival's "peak bloom" is beginning earlier and earlier. The peak period describes when at least 70 percent of the city's 3,700 cherry trees will be flowering. 13This year, peak bloom was expected to happen on March 23, the AP reports. But the official start of the event ended up being declared on March 17. 14By comparison, 2013's peak bloom began on April 9. Leslie Frattaroli is national resources program manager for the Park Service. She told the AP in February that peak bloom could regularly come in the middle of March by 2050. 15I'm Bryan Lynn. 16Reuters and Agence France-Presse this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. 17_____________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19bloom - v. when a flower fully opens 20benefit - v. to be helped by something 21inundate - v. to receive a large amount of something; to be covered with water 22peak - n. the highest level or value of something