Tree Board Receives Grant to Remove 10 Hazard Trees
 | Author:
Patrick Plantenberg, Tree Board Chair
Townsend Tree Board Chair, Townsend Rotary Club |
Tree Board Receives Grant to Remove 10 Hazard Trees Patrick Plantenberg, Tree Board The Townsend Tree Board received a grant from the Montana Urban and Community Forestry Association (MUCFA) for $10,650 to remove 10 large hazardous trees in Broadwater County. The Tree Board must pay $3,550 as a match for the grant. Eight of the trees were hybrid cottonwoods (Populus spp.) planted west of the 4H Building at the Fairgrounds by Elaine Gravely and crew many years ago (See Photo 1). The large trees averaging over 32 inches in diameter at breast height have been dying and many large dead branches had been pruned at least twice by the Tree Board over the last 10 years. Last year, many branches broke off the cottonwoods in a windstorm during the rodeo.
The other two hazard trees were white cottonwoods (Populus alba) in the playground at Heritage Park (See Photo 2). The Tree Board has pruned those two trees a couple of times over the years trying to reduce the risk of a branch falling and injuring a child in the playground. The grant finally gave the Tree Board a chance to remove the trees. Hybrid and white cottonwoods should not be planted in locations where damage can occur to buildings, fences, cars, and people. The City of Billings recently had to pay a million dollars for an injury to an adult when a large cottonwood branch crushed him while he was sitting at a picnic table in a city park under the tree.
ProRover Tree Service based out of Billings, Montana was awarded the contract work and was in town January 9-13 to remove the trees. Patrick Riedl of ProRover has been an arborist for 40 years. He said the one white cottonwood with a diameter of 59 inches at breast height was the largest white cottonwood he had ever removed.
Tree Board members housed and fed the contractors while they were in town. The Tree Board negotiated a deal with the contractor to help with the removal work in exchange for the removal of another two large hazard trees in town. Volunteers included Patrick Plantenberg, Mary and Tony Mistek, Judy Schenk, and Paul Vogl. The Tree Board loaded the large wood that could not be chipped by the contractor and hauled it to the landfill. To date, 16 trailer loads have been transported. The Tree Board also is doing the final detailed cleanup at the sites.
ProRover will return January 17-20 to grind the stumps at the Fairgrounds and remove the two additional large trees. One of the trees is a large white cottonwood at 404 S. Cedar and the other is a large hybrid cottonwood near the gate in McCarthy Park. The volunteer work by the Tree Board is saving the city at least $3,000.
The Tree Board matching $3,550 will come from a $2,000 PILT grant from Broadwater County and from Tree Board trees sales and donations for Tree Board planting and pruning services conducted for private citizens.
The City of Townsend Tree Board has been an active member of MUCFA for many years.
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PhotoCredit: Pat Plantenberg
Image 1 Caption: Seven of the eight large hazard trees removed at the Fairgrounds west of the 4H Building (Photo by Pat Plantenberg)
Image 2 Caption: Two large white cottonwoods being removed in the Heritage Park Playground (Photo by Pat Plantenberg)
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