UDOT plans Ephraim tree removal after reviewing citizen comments

By Robert Stevens

EPHRAIM—The Utah Department of Transportation plans to begin removing trees along the west side of U.S. 89 between 300 North and 600 North in mid-October, months after public concern prompted the agency to halt its original work and conduct additional environmental, historical and arboricultural reviews.

Kevin Kitchen, UDOT Region Four communications manager, said the agency has completed its environmental clearances and expects the maintenance work to take place between mid-October and mid-November. Kitchen said UDOT is moving forward because of highway safety concerns, deteriorating tree health and the loss of a dependable irrigation source.

The review provides a more detailed picture of the corridor than was available when the controversy began this spring. An independent arborist inspected 56 trees in August and recommended 18 for removal, placed four in a category requiring additional management judgment and recommended pruning the remaining 34.

Jeremiah Elder, an International Society of Arboriculture board certified master arborist and tree risk assessment qualified arborist with Certified Arborist Solutions, conducted the Aug. 6 field inspection.

Condition of Trees

Elder made clear that his work addressed the condition of the trees rather than UDOT’s larger transportation decisions.

“This report addresses observed tree condition and management needs only,” Elder said. “It does not determine roadway design, right-of-way authority, project policy, or the ultimate disposition of any tree.”

That distinction is significant because the arborist’s findings do not describe all of the trees as dying or recommend wholesale removal. Of the 56 trees, Elder placed 34 in a green category for pruning. Four received yellow ribbons, meaning their declining or compromised condition required management decisions. Eighteen received orange ribbons recommending removal.

The environmental study summarizes the findings by saying 22 trees could ultimately be removed, including the 18 recommended for removal and four that may require removal if irrigation and maintenance limitations cannot be addressed.

The current UDOT public notice does not specify exactly how many trees the agency intends to remove during the upcoming work.

The arborist inventory included black willows, ash, an apple tree, white poplars and Siberian elms. Elder documented substantial defects in some trees recommended for removal, including basal decay, hollow trunks, open cavities, missing portions of crowns, previous major failures, damaged roots, fungal growth and stems leaning or carrying heavy loads toward the roadway.

One black willow had significant basal decay and a canopy heavily weighted toward the roadway. Another had a hollow trunk, visible cracking and significant decay. Elder described failure of that tree as imminent. Other trees showed severe decline, major crown loss and structural problems associated with old wounds.

The inspection was not a formal tree risk assessment. Elder made observations visually from ground level and sounded selected trunks or bases with a mallet. The assessment did not include aerial inspection, excavation, resistance drilling, sonic tomography, root investigation or other advanced diagnostic testing.

The report also cautions against treating tree health, transportation planning and management decisions as the same issue.

“Health, structural condition, management feasibility, and project policy are separate considerations and should not be conflated,” Elder wrote in his professional opinion and independence statement.

UDOT spokesman Kevin Kitchen offered a broader assessment when the issue first surfaced in April.

Trees clearly dying

“The trees along this stretch of highway are clearly dying,” Kitchen told the Sanpete Messenger. “As trees begin to die and rot, they can split and become a very serious hazard. During wind and storm events branches often break loose and fall onto the highway and sidewalk, creating potential safety hazards for travelers.”

The subsequent arborist report supports significant concerns about individual trees but also identifies dozens that could be retained with pruning and maintenance.

Water availability

Water availability emerged as a major factor in Elder’s assessment.

The irrigation ditch running along the corridor reportedly has not provided dependable water for approximately three to five years. To investigate that change, Elder contacted Ephraim City Public Works Director Jeff Jensen.

According to Elder’s report, Jensen explained that surrounding properties historically included agricultural land with associated water rights. As agricultural use declined, water rights were sold or leased for use elsewhere and the ditch stopped serving its former purpose.

Jensen also told Elder that during years of abundant water, the city sometimes opened a fire hydrant to provide water to the ditch and trees. Drought and municipal water rationing curtailed that practice, and Jensen said the city does not currently anticipate regularly supplying the ditch in the future.

Elder concluded that loss of the water source could accelerate decline. His report recommends that any plan to retain trees include supplemental irrigation, periodic monitoring and a timely response to visible changes.

The environmental review extended beyond the physical condition of the trees.

UDOT Natural Resources Manager Matt Howard prepared a March 30 review covering threatened and endangered species, migratory birds, eagles and greater sage-grouse. Howard reviewed federal and state wildlife information, aerial imagery and habitat data.

No animal threats

“The project would not result in take for species designated as Threatened or Endangered,” Howard said.

Howard’s assessment also found no documented raptor nests within 1 mile of the project and no suitable raptor nesting habitat in the project area. However, he recommended that tree removal occur outside the general April 1 to July 15 nesting season.

If work occurs during that period, Howard’s memo says a UDOT-approved biologist should inspect affected trees within seven days of removal. If an active nest is found, workers cannot remove the tree until the young have fledged.

Ron Steiner, a UDOT natural resource specialist for regions 3 and 4, separately reviewed water resources, wetlands, floodplains and invasive species.

“No mapped streams, wetland or WOTUS features are within the project area,” Steiner said. “The project will not need any permits.”

Steiner also found the project would disturb less than 1 acre and therefore would not require a Utah construction general stormwater permit. His review requires construction equipment to be cleaned before entering the site to reduce the possibility of spreading noxious weeds.

Historical review

The project’s historical review produced another set of findings.

UDOT Cultural Resources Program Manager Liz Robinson and architectural historian David Amott examined whether the trees or other features within the project area qualified as historic resources.

Their review acknowledged the importance of the trees to Ephraim even while concluding that the available documentary evidence did not establish their precise origin.

“UDOT recognizes that the willows on North Main are clearly an important part of Ephraim’s landscape and identity,” Robinson and Amott said.

Their report said the trees’ exact origin remained uncertain and appeared to be later than some local accounts suggest. The best evidence they found pointed toward early 20th-century beautification efforts rather than plantings associated directly with Ephraim’s original settlement.

“What remains consistent across the historical record is that community members have valued the willow trees for decades, even while debating how they should be managed,” Robinson and Amott said.

UDOT consulted Ephraim City, the Ephraim Irrigation Company, the Ephraim Pioneer Park director and concerned citizens as part of the research. The review found little documented historical information specifically establishing when the trees were planted.

The cultural review did identify the Ephraim Irrigation Company network as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, but UDOT concluded the project would affect only a small portion of the system and would not substantially alter the features that make it historically significant.

No adverse effect

Robinson and Amott therefore recommended a finding of no adverse effect.

The Utah State Historic Preservation Office agreed.

“Based on the information provided to our office, we concur with your determination of eligibility and finding of No Adverse Effect for the proposed undertaking,” preservation specialist Alena Franco wrote in a June 2 response to UDOT.

The review’s conclusion about the existing trees differs from some local historical accounts presented after the original removal began.

Tree origins

Sanpete County essayist Kesty Thursby Szakacs previously provided the Messenger with information from Saga of Sanpitch and described the willows as a landmark “for over a century.”

“It was not unusual to see pioneers walking away from the mouth of Willow Creek Canyon, where the trees were first planted, with many starts to be planted,” Szakacs wrote. “They not only planted them along roads but also over the valley where flowing wells were. That way they marked where water was, and the pioneers knew where to dig for water for farming.”

The available UDOT research did not confirm that account as the origin of the existing U.S. 89 trees.

Preserve what they can

Preservation advocates have continued to argue that even if some trees need to come down, UDOT and the city should preserve those that can safely remain.

“Of course, trees eventually die and necessarily should be removed,” Larry Nielson of Citizens for Historic Preservation of Ephraim wrote earlier this year. “But let’s be reasonable and consider how we can preserve as many as possible and, of course, keep planting more and replace those that are removed.”

200 sign petition

Nielson later reported that a petition supporting preservation of the trees had received more than 200 signatures.

The dispute began after UDOT started tree work along Main Street this spring. Residents raised questions about the trees’ historical value, and UDOT stopped the work.

“When UDOT began removing trees, two citizens raised questions about the trees’ potential historical value,” Kitchen said in April. “UDOT takes concerns seriously and immediately consulted its internal environmental team.”

UDOT’s completed environmental study later said the agency canceled the original project after receiving comments from concerned citizens and initiated the expanded review.

Future highway widening also appears in the project record. U.S. 89 changes between two- and four-lane sections through Ephraim, and the environmental documents say the trees’ proximity to southbound traffic would conflict with clear-zone requirements for a future continuous four-lane highway.

The current project itself, however, is limited to tree removal and maintenance within the UDOT right of way. It does not widen U.S. 89.

The environmental study says discussion of eventually removing aging trees along the corridor predates the current controversy. Ephraim City considered removal as far back as 1991 because some considered the trees overgrown and potentially hazardous.

In 2006, the city planted numerous trees between 500 North and 600 North behind the older trees and outside the highway right of way. UDOT says officials intended those plantings to lessen the visual effect when older trees eventually came down. The cultural review also says Ephraim City has committed to additional plantings along the U.S. 89 corridor outside the UDOT right of way.

For now, UDOT expects the maintenance work to occur between mid-October and mid-November. The agency says the schedule remains subject to change.