Tubbs tree mystery solved
LOREN BENOIT/Press A trio of trees lay falled and sawed near Marker 14 Monday. The trees, which had been cut after a Feb. 1 windstorm toppled trees and created hazardous conditions, have been gradually sawed and stacked over the past three weeks.
While symptoms of disease or pests were found under the bark on some trees on Tubbs Hill, the recent emergence of cut wood along the popular hiking trails resulted from hazardous conditions after a Feb. 1 windstorm. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
COEUR d’ALENE — Downed trees on Tubbs Hill have raised alarms with some citizens.
“The trees appear to be diseased,” one resident wrote to The Press, “but I am not an expert in that field. It was shocking really. I hope it was for a good reason.”
“I just saw them cut up into logs,” a jogger added Monday while taking a quick water break. “Not sure what’s going on.”
A collection of trees — sawed and felled — have gathered over the past three weeks along the eastern slope of Tubbs Hill, at the crest of the climb near the southeastern shore near Marker 14.
“It was because of that big windstorm,” said Friends of Tubbs Hill council liaison Christie Wood. “The wind created a hazardous condition with some of the trees, so they had to cut them down. That’s all it is.”
The Coeur d’Alene Parks and Recreation Department, helmed by Bill Greenwood, spearheaded the move. He said the Feb. 1 windstorm — which exceeded 50 mph in some local areas — left the city few options while protecting Tubbs Hill hikers.
“That windstorm about three weeks ago, it uprooted a live tree,” Greenwood said. “That tree leaned into a dead tree, and we had another tree that had a hanger in it. If it’s in an area where no one goes, we leave it alone, but this was so close to the trail, we needed to do something.”
Urban Forester Nick Goodwin identified the need for removal before Parks and Rec workers felled the trees. Goodwin added that, while he laments having to cut trees, he thinks trees and tree lovers around the area got off easy.
“Normally, given those winds from that windstorm, we should’ve lost more trees,” he said. “During that storm, we lost a big tree on the northwest corner of the cemetery that we had to cut down, but given those winds, it could’ve been a lot worse.”
Greenwood said the continual reseeding of Tubbs Hill will make up for the unfortunate loss, but that nature finds a way.