The loss of tree canopy at Sand Point was so extreme that Theo Hoss, a natural resources graduate student at Oregon State University, noticed it as part of his master's capstone project. Hoss was using the city's own light detection and ranging technology to look at changes in the tree canopy between 2016 to 2021.
He found that 94% of the 255 acres of tree canopy lost during that five-year period was from parcels that applied for development permits. Developers were basically clearing lots to build new homes, offices, apartment buildings, and condos.
But the 88-acre Sand Point parcel was an outlier. The club had applied for no development permit but accounted for 5.7 acres of the lost tree canopy.
"What we're seeing with Sand Point is a truly significant net canopy loss over that five-year period in absence of new construction to explain it," Hoss said. "It's actually the fifth highest canopy loss on any single parcel in the city that wasn't subject to redevelopment."