Fourth of July Pass flag returns, tree damaged
<p>An American flag, fastened to the top of a pine tree near mile post 27 on Interstate 90, billows in the wind on Wednesday. Solar-powered lights illuminate the flag at night.</p>
<p>A ponderosa pine alongside Interstate 90 near mile post 27 is adorned with an American flag. As of now, it is unknown who climbed the tree and placed the flag, complete with solar-powered lights, there.</p>
The Stars and Stripes are once again flying over Fourth of July Pass.
The flag, attached to a large ponderosa pine tree, is visible from Interstate 90 around mile marker 27.
Shoshana Cooper, Idaho Panhandle National Forest public information officer, said the national forest is not trying to find the person responsible for putting up the flag and doesn’t have any leads.
“We understand that whoever set it up there, it’s their claim to patriotism, but setting up private displays on public land is not authorized,” she said. “We don’t want to encourage people to go out and set up other displays or things on public land; it takes away from the natural setting.”
The flag first appeared in 2014. Each year it has re-appeared in the same tree, and the Forest Service has decided not to remove the flag, due to safety concerns for its tree climbers. The tree is estimated to be more than 100 feet tall.
This year, however, the patriotic person cut the top of the tree.
“Unfortunately, because they cut it, that means the tree will die sooner,” Cooper said. “Cutting the top off a pine tree makes it more susceptible to insects and disease.”
Some people, like Ron Booth, enjoy the flag and are glad it’s there.
“His (or her) persistence is admirable, and I wish we could find out who deserves to be congratulated, honored and appreciated,” Booth wrote in an email the The Press.