Petition to save trees is online

COEUR d'ALENE - The Kootenai Environmental Alliance petition to save the dike road trees has gone online.

Terry Harris, KEA director, said the goal is to collect as many signatures in support of keeping the roadway's ponderosa pines untouched as possible before sending the signed show of support to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works office in Washington, D.C.

The federal office can influence the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Harris said.

"We'd like to think we have a shot at it," Harris said.

The Corps, on the heels of a federal study, recently ordered the city of Coeur d'Alene to clear vegetation along Rosenberry Drive, also known as dike road, for flooding safety reasons. That includes roughly 500 trees of all sizes.

Meanwhile, the city of Coeur d'Alene will discuss its stance fighting the tree removal during its Tuesday meeting, said Councilman John Bruning.

The paper version of the petition has collected 1,500 signatures since it started circulating Coeur d'Alene in early August. The online version is on the KEA Facebook page, and on its web page, www.kealliance.org.