Wellsville
cuts down its giant ash trees to keep power lines clear
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By Megan Roe
April 28, 2005 | Almost 150
giant ash trees, which have created an aesthetic
archway along Wellsville's center street for more
than a century, have been removed, leaving the
city's main road looking bare.
Kent Brenchley, a Wellsville City councilman
and member of the Shade Tree and Beautification
Commission, said Utah Power and Light asked Wellsville
to remove the trees because the company was going
to begin upgrading power lines.
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THERE USED TO BE TREES:
Holes with mounds of chips are all that's left
of about 150 giant ash trees in Wellsville. /
Photo by Josh J. Russell |
Brenchley said the company believed the trees were
getting too big and it would be difficult to maintain
electricity in not only Wellsville, but also the entire
valley, if the trees weren't cut down.
Brenchley said another reason why the trees needed
to be cut down is because they are so old and were beginning
to look that way.
"I'll betcha they were planted in the 1800s, easy,"
Brenchley said. "These trees had outlived their time."
Brenchley said the trees were also starting to look
ugly because Utah Power and Light had to trim around
the power lines every year. He said this made the trees
look out of proportion because the center limbs would
usually be cut out, leaving the outside limbs long.
Once the city started cutting the trees down, it found
tree borers and disease, which had made the trees very
weak.
Windstorms happen often in Wellsville, and after each
storm, branches and limbs were found all over the ground
because the weakness of the trees.
Brenchley said the city council heard no more than
a dozen complaints about cutting the trees down and
there was no opposition within the council. Sandra Bradshaw,
who lives near the north end of Center Street, said
she was sad the tree in front of her house was gone
because it provided shade and "cleaned up the air."
She believes others in Wellsville are also disgruntled
about the missing trees. "I would say 90 percent of
the people say 'I hate this,'" Bradshaw said. "If I
had my druthers, the trees would still be here."
Dean Haslam, a longtime Center Street resident, said
he was happy the trees are gone. Two of the trees in
front of his home left seeds all over his lawn. He also
said they were very dirty and ugly.
Agreeing with Brenchley, Haslam said the trees were
too old and looked funny with the center limbs cut out.
There is a plan to plant new trees, but there might
not be enough money for 150 of them, Brenchley said.
He said the city would like to get those who live on
Center Street involved in the planting process.
"That way they'll take ownership of the trees, and
water and take care of them," Brenchley said.
Brenchley said an arborist from Utah Power and Light
has given the city a choice of six kinds of trees that
will not grow as tall as the ash trees, but will look
nice along the road.
These include the hawthorne tree, Japanese lilac tree,
Eastern woodland tree, golden raintree, flowering apple
tree, and serviceberry tree.
He said if Wellsville plants a variety of trees, instead
of just one species of tree, disease and borers will
not spread as easily.
The only problem is the time it will take to grow the
trees. It will take decades for the trees to grow tall
enough for those along Center Street to enjoy the shade
and aesthetics.
"Now we have an opportunity like our pioneer forefathers
had, to plant some trees for the next generation,"
Brenchley said.
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