What makes you wake up one morning and feel inspired to protect a grove of historic trees across from your home? Daniel Solberg, a longtime Edgewood resident and member of the Organized Neighbors of Edgewood, has no definite answer. “For some reason, I felt like it was the time,” he says. “It was almost spiritual, like a calling that you don’t quite understand.”
In the weeks following his epiphany, Solberg, along with fellow neighborhood organization member Kelly Draper, has invested hours of volunteer work to protect four very old trees towering on privately owned land located on Vaughn Street in the Edgewood neighborhood on Atlanta’s east side.
The trees—three white oaks and one Southern red oak—have a compelling case for preservation. They have all been dated to be more than 200 years old, making them witnesses to the historic Battle of Atlanta, on July 22, 1864. But their major accomplishment may be their sheer survival after decades of urban development. Despite the moniker “City in the Forest,” Atlanta is losing trees at an alarming rate: A 2018 study found the city had lost .43 acres a day over the past decade. And while the City of Atlanta has a tree ordinance that requires permits for cutting down certain trees, it does not provide specific protections for historic trees…