Historic White Cottonwoods Removed in Heritage Park
 | Author:
Patrick Plantenberg, Tree Board Chair
Townsend Tree Board Chair, Townsend Rotary Club |
Historic White Cottonwoods Removed in Heritage Park
Patrick Plantenberg
Tree Board Chair
On February 3 and 5, two old white cottonwoods were removed in Heritage Park by the Townsend Tree Board and the City of Townsend Public Works crew. People have been asking why they needed to be taken down. The Tree Board removed two other white cottonwoods in the Heritage Park playground three years ago and left the stumps standing to be carved into wooden sculptures. They will hopefully be carved this spring.
Cottonwoods are not desirable trees in a park setting because of their tendency to break in snow and windstorms. The Tree Board has been wanting to remove the cottonwoods in the park ever since a cottonwood failed in a city park in Billings and a person was seriously injured. The city of Billings was sued, and luckily, they had documented their actions taken to prune and care for the tree over the years. As a result, the lawsuit was settled for much less than the original claim.
The Tree Board inspects city park trees after every wind and storm event to look for broken and fallen branches. The white cottonwoods in the park have been pruned several times over the last 20 years. The white cottonwoods had several dead limbs removed last fall before Fall Fest. One of the trees taken down was showing some rot in the center of the tree.
Just how old were the trees? The Tree Board asked a couple of Forest Service employees to look at the stumps and give us an estimate of their age. The best one could determine is that they were planted after the Broadwater County Courthouse was built and after the Rotary Club was established in Townsend. They were not as old as a resident who lives on McMaster Hill. They were probably planted after the “Big One” - WWII. They were certainly planted before the Tree Board was established.
New trees have been planted nearby to replace the two trees removed and two more trees will be planted this spring to replace them over time. If you have any questions, please call Patrick Plantenberg, Tree Board Chair, at 406-431-4615.
