Removal of downed trees begins on popular hiking hill

COEUR d’ALENE — A project to protect the health of Tubbs Hill began Thursday.

About 50 ponderosa pine and some Douglas fir trees came crashing down Jan. 13 as winds reached an estimated 70 mph. Some were uprooted along the main trail, while others fell across trails and hillsides.

It’s time for them to be hauled off by a mini-logging operation of sorts or chipped on site and spread out.

“Using these methods of removal and chipping of the downed debris, the department will address several health issues concerning the hill,” City Parks Director Bill Greenwood wrote. “We will minimize beetle infestation and mitigate fire danger all the while causing minimal impact to the hill without costs to the city."

Greenwood said it will be a two- to three-week operation. The logs will be hauled up hillsides using a wheeled trailer and staging the logs on the fire road.

Eventually, small trucks with self-loaders will drive up the fire road and take the cut logs to a mill.

The logs must be removed from Tubbs Hill quickly before they start to “turn blue,” Greenwood said, which is when they lose value to the mill. It also indicates their vulnerability to beetles, which are a threat to the hill’s health.

In early February, Greenwood and staff met with members of the Tubbs Hill Foundation, Urban Forestry Committee, Department of Lands and the Idaho Forest Group and discussed what kind of impact that many fresh trees down on the hill would do to the health of the forest.

One concern was the infestation of the pine engraver beetle. These beetles target freshly fallen pine trees in the early spring and tend to spread to healthy trees once they get established.

Greenwood said they decided the best way to minimize an infestation was to remove the downed trees from the hill and scatter or chip the large branches from each log.

“The other issue is the fire danger and our hope is that we will be able to chip most of the limb wood and if needed we have approval from our fire department to stack burn piles to be dealt with in the winter months,” Greenwood said.

The logs will be sold and the profits will go back into the Tubbs Hill Parks Capital Improvement Fund to pay for tree planting and management of the hill.

Greenwood said they anticipate five truckloads to be hauled to a mill for a profit of $350 per truck load.

There will be warning signs and staff to keep people out of the work area and to explain to the public why the work is being done.

Greenwood said if this project goes well, the city may perform an annual cleanup on Tubbs Hill.

“This is the first step in the right direction,” Greenwood said.