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A flag flies in the forest

by KEITH COUSINS/kcousins@cdapress.com
| August 26, 2014 9:00 PM

Old Glory is flying high atop a large ponderosa pine on Fourth of July Pass.

How the flag got there, on national forest land, is a mystery.

At night the American flag, which is on the north side of the highway around mile marker 27, is illuminated by a light that makes it clearly visible from Interstate 90. Jay Kirchner, a spokesperson for the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, told The Press Monday that they first got a call about the flag a month ago.

"We have no idea how it got up there," Kirchner said. "It's on the tip-top of the tree and I can't imagine it would hold the weight of a person holding onto it."

The Idaho Panhandle National Forest sent its professional tree climbers to assess the tree the flag flies from in order to possibly remove the flag. However, Kirchner said even the professionals were hesitant to make the climb.

"It's just too dangerous for them," Kirchner said. "To get up on that skinny part of the tree that high up would just be too risky. Since it's not hurting anything, we are going to leave it up there for now. It's not worth the risk."

But Kirchner added that they would like the flag and light to come down eventually.

"We applaud and respect this individual's display of patriotism," Kirchner said. "But they did this on public land and we don't want more people putting up displays on public land."