It’s fitting that so much attention is suddenly being paid to Garry oak trees as Oak Harbor enters its 100th year of incorporation.

The city,  schools, businesses and citizens should do all they can to support efforts to return the city to its oak-filled glory. And it’s time for the City Council to revisit an ordinance that’s intended to protect the trees, but obviously has gaping loopholes.

The native oaks are, after all, an important part of the city’s heritage.

Long before it was incorporated, the city was named after the beautiful canopy of oak that covered much of what is now considered the old section of town. For hundreds of years before that, the acorns from the tree were an important food source for native people, who maintained oak savannas with fire.

In recent years, the number of the slow-growing trees has steadily been decreasing in Oak Harbor as they are strangled by ivy, crowded out by evergreens, toppled in storms or cut down by chainsaw.

Of course, no one can forget the 300-year-old granddaddy oak that used to stand at the post office. City officials cut it down without telling the citizens ahead of time because of concerns that it was a safety hazard.

Brad Gluth, the city’s oak aficionado, said about one or two of the city’s old giants are lost each year.

He and other city staff members are spearheading the planting of 100 Garry oak saplings to create a “Centennial Oak Grove” on the former Boyer property on the north end of the city. Information is available at the city’s website.

He’s also working with a high school ecology club to grow seedlings that will someday be adopted out to “parents” in the community.

A group of concerned citizens formed the Oak Harbor Garry Oak Society earlier this year. They’ve created a self-guided tree walk. The map is available at the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce. They’ve planted trees and pulled ivy off of mature oaks. Check out the group’s website at http://ohgarryoaksociety.org.

The city recently contracted with an arborist who will actually count all the Garry oak trees in the city for the first time.

All this effort is great but overdue. Since it takes decades for an oak to grow out of its adolescence, it’s time to start planting as soon as possible.