WEISER,ID- Thursday, July 17th the city of Weiser began removing trees from the City Park. In total there will be five trees removed. The city’s trees are maintained and monitored throughout the year for health and safety. Five trees in the park have been deemed a safety risk to the public. City Works Director Mike Campbell shared that one of the trees was split in half from a past storm and was dropping large limbs. Another one of the trees being removed was growing into the covered stage area and didn’t have the room it needed to grow and stay healthy. Others were dead on top or had root rot. “The big one that has been there a long time has had several large, six inch branches fall out of it in the last few years. When we picked up from the last storm we found that they were broken from the top and were dead. When we cut it back it was apparent that the tree needed to go due to safety concerns. We went back and forth on it so many times trying to figure out a way to save it. I know a lot of people will be mad about the decision, but I do not want anyone getting hurt in the park,” stated Campbell.
The city, with the help of the LOR Foundation, will be replacing the trees with five new trees suited for shading in a park setting. “The trees we are using to replace the old ones are a lot more manageable shade trees. When we put new trees into the parks they are more of a park style tree. They still provide the shade, but are more manageable and don’t get as big,” stated Campbell. He also shared that Weiser is a “Tree City” and receives a grant to plant a tree every year available due to the number of trees added to the community every year, “We work with the Arbor Day Foundation and we work with the nurseries to see what is the best tree for the area and climate. We plant more trees a year than we take out.” The city has recently added trees down at Memorial Park and down at the City Pond.
The city takes the responsibility of public safety very seriously and does not like when trees need to be removed. “The decision to remove trees is not done lightly. I hate removing trees. When the crew comes in and says this is becoming a dangerous situation, I take them very seriously. They trim these trees and take care of them every day. When they come to me saying this is a hazard, they get removed,” stated Campbell. He shared that they take their teams’ advice on the care and maintenance of the city’s trees and meet to discuss if and when trees need to be removed. “We remove trees based on public safety more than any other reason. When they become a public safety hazard they need to come out and be replaced. Every time we take a tree out of the parks we replace it, sometimes not always in the same location because sometimes the location is bad, but we always replace it. I can’t stress enough to the public that we don’t just cut down trees. They have to be considered a safety hazard, dead or diseased.”
