Seattle Man Rescues & Transplants Hundreds of Unwanted Trees

<a href="http://bernieo.smugmug.com/">Bernie O’Brien</a> is an art consultant during the week, but wears a completely different hat on weekends. For five years, the West Seattle resident has <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017919677_treerescuer31m.html?cmpid=2628">rescued unwanted trees</a> from all over the Seattle area, digging them up with a shovel and pickaxe and then transplanting them on his five-acre property. His work has resulted in a new life for trees that weigh up to 400 pounds, which makes it all the more impressive that O'Brien saves the trees, for the most part, on his own.

O’Brien’s passion as a tree rescuer started five years ago. A neighbor near his Key Peninsula property in Washington state removed scores of old-growth trees. A weekend passion was born.

His one-man tree adoption campaign involves scouting for trees targeted for bulldozers or chainsaws. He then brings them back to his property where they wait for transplanting.

Pictured here is a Japanese maple. O'Brien's spread at one time had been full of holly trees but eventually had become pastureland.

O'Brien scours Craigslist for unwanted trees and then after digging them, hauls them back to his West Seattle property. He has rescued about 500 trees so far.

His neighbor's tree removal five years ago not only cut back on his privacy, but he noticed that the owls and other birds who had made the trees their home could no longer be heard.

Here is one Japanese maple O'Brien had rescued, shown shortly after he transplanted it. His tree rescue operations sometimes worry his wife, who worried at first he would get a heart attack.

Not only are the colors on O'Brien's property stunning, but he can often hear frogs and birds in the distance where before there had only been silence.

Shoveling, cutting and yanking the trees out of their old homes is often difficult for O'Brien. One-fifth of the rescued trees do not make it.

O'Brien takes a break during the hot summer months and during the holiday season. His persistence means his work can extend into the night.