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November 2012 Update
Auburn University statement on Oaks at Toomer's Corner
The Oaks at Toomer's Corner were damaged by fire early Sunday morning. Members of the Trees Task Force examined the trees Monday morning and found significant damage to both oaks and to several plants adjacent to the plaza. The Trees Task Force will post an update about the fire damage next week. The Auburn Police Division is investigating the incident.
October 2012 Update
July 2011 Update
Trees Task Force, team leader Gary Keever, Ph.D.
Since our June update from the Trees Task Force, there has been nothing new to report regarding the health of the trees. They continue to defoliate and re-foliate, as expected when the pesticide tebuthiuron is applied. The prognosis for their survival, as described since we first learned of the poisoning, remains poor, and the university is continuing to monitor them, irrigate them, and collect and remove fallen leaves from the site to avoid contamination of other areas.
It is likely that it will be at least spring 2012 – at the earliest – before we know if the trees will survive.
Members of the task force from horticulture, forestry, and agronomy and soils are in agreement that rolling the trees is not harmful, and have advised university administration that if the rolling celebration continues, they be cleaned by hand, rather than with power hoses as in the past. The high pressure hoses can injure the trees by knocking off foliage, leaves and bark. We also recommend the barricades around the beds remain in place indefinitely.
University Update and Statement, July 21, 2011
Short-term decision regarding rolling Toomer’s Corner
After months of reviewing options and obtaining input from the campus, the community and the team of horticultural, agronomy and soils, and forestry experts working to save the trees, Auburn University and the city will allow the tradition of rolling Toomer’s Corner to continue, at least temporarily, this fall. At the recommendation of our experts, the university will no longer use high pressure hoses to clean the trees; they will be cleaned by hand.
Many alternatives were carefully considered, including suspending the tradition or moving it elsewhere. Most of these options created new or additional concerns related to crowd control, traffic, safety issues for our fans and opposing teams' fans, easy access, community property, and the health of other landscaping and park-like areas.
We ask our fans NOT to move the celebration into Samford Park, the beauty of which we are also trying to preserve, and where, with no concrete base to protect it, landscaping and vegetation is fragile.
Future Opportunities
The university’s Facilities Division is exploring a long-term solution we hope will return the tradition permanently: Create an iconic, attractive intersection structure, in partnership with the city and with its approval. The intent of the structure would be to:
- Bring the celebration back to the Corner, where it originated, not in the trees area;
- Create something in which the campus and community could take great pride;
- Enhance community-wide events, holidays, and gatherings year-round while improving the look and feel of the intersection overall.
A steering committee will be formed to explore this option and set parameters for an architectural design contest, which would include involvement by members of the Auburn Family. More details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Finally, hundreds of suggestions regarding replacement of the trees have been submitted by our fans and supporters, signifying their love of the university and its traditions. We have compiled these ideas and, if we determine the trees will not survive, which our experts say will likely not be possible until at least next spring, will review them at that time.
June 22, 2011
The Toomer's Corner Oaks Task Force, represented by students, faculty, staff, City of Auburn officials and Auburn landscaping experts, is still considering "rolling" options for celebrating fans this fall. An announcement will be made later this summer once all options have been reviewed.
Latest information on the oaks from the Toomer's Corner Oaks Task Force
June 2, 2011
Horticulture's Toomer's Corner Oaks Will Help Fund Endowment
May 12, 2011:
NOTE/EXCERPT: WASHINGTON - A descendant of the Toomer's Corner oak trees will be planted on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Friday morning, the idea of a Florida congressman who is a 1981 Auburn University alum. U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., started the process of getting permission to plant the tree well before the original oaks were poisoned, but the attack gave the idea even more merit, he said. "That just made it more important that we get it done," Ross said Friday. The architect of the U.S. Capitol, plus House and Senate leaders, had to approve the tree's addition to the Capitol grounds. Although the oaks have become famous for their sports-related celebrations, he said it's Auburn's contributions as a land grant college he wants to honor. "It symbolizes the heritage that land grant institutions provide this country," Ross said. To read the complete article, go to this link.
Apr. 19, 2011:
Results of water samples taken from underground wells in the area of the Toomers Oak trees returned from Data Analysis Technologies in Ohio showing only minor trace elements of Spike 80DF, the pesticide that was used to poison the trees. The levels found were well below what would cause a threat to public health or the environment. Tests were conducted as a precaution even though the water in the area beneath the trees is not tied to drinking water in the Auburn area.
Apr. 14, 2011:
Jerry Rigby (center), president of Tiger Rags Inc., presented a $30,000 check Thursday to the Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences for student scholarships. Accepting the check were Ryan Mitchell (left), president of the Student Government Association in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, and Russell Agnew (right), Toomer's Corner Oaks coordinator for the school's Forestry Club. Tiger Rags created two special Auburn T-shirts following the news in February that the oaks at Toomer's Corner had been poisoned, with $8 of the proceeds from each shirt sold being donated to the scholarship fund. Additional donations will be made as more shirts are sold during the summer and upcoming football season. Tiger Rags has partnered with the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences since 2003 to raise money for student scholarships by selling seedlings from Auburn's famous Toomer's Corner Oaks.
Apr. 11, 2011:
Apr. 11, 2011:
Mar. 31, 2011:
Mar. 29, 2011:
- Tide for Toomer's presents $50,000 check for Auburn's Toomer's Trees and Traditions Fund.
Mar. 23, 2011:
Mar. 22, 2011:
Feb. 28, 2011:
- Statement regarding the Toomer's Corner Oaks Task Force methods and offers of assistance
Feb. 25, 2011:
- Activated charcoal application added to the plaza
- Toomer's Corner Oak Working Group plans to drill wells to monitor ground water
Feb. 24, 2011:
Feb. 23, 2011:
- Toomer's Corner oak remediation chronology
Feb. 18, 2011:
Feb. 17, 2011:
Feb. 16, 2011:
- Toomer's Corner oaks poisoned with herbicide; unlikely to survive
Last Updated: Nov. 26, 2012