Committee will ensure wise tree removal

The Utah State University Heat Plant will be built north of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum and utility tunnels connecting on-campus utilities will travel from the plant to the corner of the Quad by the Merrill Library. Thursday, the Arboretum committee – a committee of 10 members including a landscape architect – walked around the areas the tunnels will be built.

With careful observation of each tree, the committee decided which could be taken down and which should remain.

Some of the trees are diseased and ready to be taken down, while others have reached their age of maturity.

Some of the trees need to come out and some do not, said Mike Coons, Extension Forester and Forestry department head.

The committee is excited to remove some of the trees and have more variety, said Darrell Hart, Vice President for Facilities.

“For every tree taken down, another tree will be put in,” he said.

For the professors in the Plants, Sciences and Natural Resources Department, it is understandable that there is emotional attachment to some of the trees, which have been there for many years. Some Natural Resource professors have voiced opinions to help determine tunnel routes.

The tunnels used for underground utilities will hopefully be finished by next Fall.

“The committee has been very functional, very supportive and a positive step,” Hart said.

Before students leave school in May, they will start seeing the effects of the project. Parking may be affected, Hart said.

“Nobody is going to like the trees cut down, but it is good because it gives us a better perspective of the trees that [we] need to protect,” said Brent Windley, director of Facilities Planning.

The committee will also play a role in the redesigning of landscape once the project is complete, Windley said.

Kudos to the committee working hard to ensure the trees will be protected and the project will be a success.