Looking Back: To Save a Tree
When I first spotted the Crooked Tree Landscaping truck, across from Ben Wongs, preparing for what I had prayed would not happen, I asked them, “Why must this tree come down”. They replied apologetically that they were only “doing their job” and could not speak to my question as to why this magnificent Cottonwood was being sacrificed. When the same question was put to the city crew supervisor standing nearby, the reply was, “I am only following orders.”
Now, a month later, as I see the park pathway “plan” unfolding, I still challenge the decision, which could have curved the westerly pathway around this beautiful tree. People were dismissive about it at the time, saying “well it was probably rotten anyways, cottonwoods are like that”. Before I left the area that day, somewhat distraught, I asked the Crooked Tree guys to cut me a four inch thick slab out of the base as a keepsake. I wanted to see proof of its age and healthiness and have some remnant of it survive. Perhaps, I thought, it could be used to serve as a message someday.
Later in the day when I returned to the area I found a small section of the massive trunk lying on the ground but nearby was an amazing slice through its mighty heartland, kindly left for me by a very competent crew. It took help from a stranger the next day but I managed to get this giant wooden disc into my Expedition. It measures just over 43 inches in diameter DBH, which is a standard breast height measurement used to evaluate a trees correct diameter. The photograph reveals there was absolutely no rot in the base or any of the branches for that matter. And the rings show it is well over a hundred years old. This eastern guardian to Blairmore main street could have been monitored and left be and would have provided lovely shade in an otherwise (so far) barren parkway, for many years to come.
The first time this tree became an issue was when I happened to observe a city official a year before, along with a respected heritage individual evaluating the proposed new cenotaph site in Blairmore. There was a dismissive comment uttered then that this iconic cottonwood “would have to go”. Don’t get me wrong, I am super happy about the enhancement of the new home for the memorial cenotaph in Blairmore BUT what I saw was significant heritage being destroyed in order to acknowledge another important heritage. So I guess what I am saying is that we need to weigh the importance and be respectful of our amazing tree legacy. Just like we do for our heritage buildings the most important of which are in a heritage inventory.
As David McIntyre alluded to in his letter to the editor last week, we need to have a proper assessment and probably a dedicated committee of council, which can evaluate a tree’s value to the community and its health and history. A historical tree inventory would be part of this process, one that puts surveyed trees into a database so that, when an issue comes up, there would be a process that kicks in. A process that reviews a tree’s assessed value and status versus the perceived need to eliminate it.
Here then is another recent case that speaks to this point. I was contacted recently by a Coleman resident upset at a Fortis assessment to eliminate the hazards of a lovely cottonwood just off 19th street. This beauty had divided early on in its growth into a lovely double trunked peaceful looking tree. The resident said to me, “I love this tree John and don’t want to see it lost.”
The discussion apparently was to either trim its branches to remove the power line proximity issues and a nearby neighbour’s concerns. There was also the suggestion of total removal. I photographed this tree which sat in an open space, on a city owned boulevard that lies between Nez Perce Creek and an adjoining property. Remarkably, as I photographed it, I noticed that someone had painted a red spot at the point where the tree had separated into two distinct entities. It stood out like a heart and I remembered then the movie Dragonheart and how Draco the dragon died by bearing his heart to an axe to save his king. How ironic that this tree, that could easily have been just trimmed, was axed and left in a pile of cuttings. An examination once again revealed neither of the two trunks had any rot. So it seems that there is a need for taking a hard look at heritage value trees on public and private lands. I am betting the city did not know that 19th street tree was coming down and defers to Fortis for tree decisions in general.
I am remembering back in 2022 the contractors that worked for a year or so widening the main power line right-of-way, north of town and how huge old Douglas Firs well back from the power line were mercilessly cut down. I recall measuring some of their heights and distance away from the line and many of them were overkill. A ring count of one of them revealed it started growing in 1816! There were probably wood buffalo wandering past it in its early days. We need to show respect for our trees in the municipality and put a process in place to evaluate and protect them. They are part of our heritage!
