This Fort Collins man wants a ban on big, brittle trees

It’s time for Jim Henriksen’s cottonwoods to come down.

He has two in his south Fort Collins backyard. One is dead or dying; the other’s still kicking. Both are upward of 70 feet tall.

Henriksen is tired of sweeping his yard for branches after storms, and he doesn’t want to worry about damaging his neighbor’s property or his own anymore. So this month, a certified arborist will come cut the trees down for $4,000.

Henriksen’s story is probably familiar to many residents of Fort Collins, where thousands of towering trees turn city streets into a vast mosaic of green every spring. Collected over decades of rigorous planting and pruning, the city's 443,000 trees offer shade, suppress energy bills and bind up air pollution and storm water. Oh, and they look pretty.

But our big trees also present challenges.

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In the last 20 years, tree damage from storms has cost the city and its residents millions of dollars in cleanup and property damage, according to city foresters. Confusion over who truly owns a gargantuan tree has led to countless neighbor disputes. At the center of many of those disputes is the cottonwood, perhaps Fort Collins’ most-vilified tree because of its brittle bark, fast growth rate and fluffy seeds.

If you ask Henriksen, all the strife isn’t worth it. He’d like to see the city pass an ordinance outlawing the planting of any especially large, especially brittle trees like cottonwoods to nip the issue at its roots.

“We have all these big trees, and they’re very expensive to cut down,” said Henriksen, a retired federal fish and wildlife biologist. “And many people are opting not to do that until there are consequences — danger to homes, property.”

City foresters aren’t convinced. They say the benefits of our big trees, which make up about three-quarters of Fort Collins’ urban forest, far outweigh the problems they pose.

Just how big are Fort Collins’ trees?

About 70 percent to 75 percent of the trees in Fort Collins are “larger trees,” city forester Tim Buchanan said. He defines “larger” as trees with the potential to grow to about 65 feet or taller, generally with the canopy diameter to match. Cottonwoods fall squarely in that territory. To give you a better mental image of 65 feet, a lane at a bowling alley is 60 feet long. 

The city’s most common trees — pine, ash and elm — are all generally big trees. The city has an estimated 27,000 cottonwoods, according to a 2015 survey of trees on city and private property.

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Fort Collins’ urban forest has been generally big and tall for as far back as Buchanan can remember, and then some. He’s worked in the city forestry department for more than 40 years. 

“There’s this sense of value by citizens, apparently well into the past, in planting shade trees,” Buchanan said. “You can see that in trees 80, 90, 100 years old planted throughout the community in parks and near schools.”

The trouble with trees

1995. 2000. 2003. 2011. 2017.

City foresters know those years as the “big five,” when the most damaging storms from a forestry perspective hit the city since 1995. The most recent entry, the late-May snowstorm that whacked Fort Collins with 6 inches of Slurpee-like flakes, left a trail of tree wreckage across the city.

In all, that snowstorm cost the city upward of $150,000 — the price tag for grinding branches and debris collected at two free drop-off sites into 7,400 cubic yards of mulch. The storm also seriously damaged about 800 trees on Colorado State University's campus. 

The last really bad storm for trees was in 2011, when a late-October snow overwhelmed trees that hadn’t yet lost their leaves. The ensuing damage inspired the city to sweep all of Fort Collins for downed branches, which cost about $1.5 million.

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As climate patterns shift, Fort Collins could be in for more tree-damaging storms. The big five storms all fell in late spring or late fall, when trees are more vulnerable to damage. Some climatologists, including Colorado State Climatologist Nolan Doesken, predict the Choice City could see more late-fall and late-spring storms due to climate change.

Snowstorms aren't the only thing to worry about when it comes to big trees. High winds can, and often have, brought down trees in Fort Collins. In February, wind gusts that peaked at 46 mph dragged down an old cottonwood tree that smashed two cars at the Drake Professional Park.

All those storms mean a lot of property damage to deal with. Just ask Zac and Peggy Sue Hart.

Both their cars were crushed when a 140-year-old cottonwood split in half from the weight of the May snowstorm. No one would take responsibility for the toppled tree — not the city, not the owner of the couple’s apartment complex or the ditch company that has an easement where the tree stood.

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Not much has changed since the storm, Zac Hart told the Coloradoan Friday. The Harts now depend on a “not super-reliable” $500 car for transportation and are getting ready to go to small claims court against the ditch company.

Meanwhile, the other half of the tree that crushed their cars remains standing, hollowed out and rotting at the roots.

“Soon, that tree’s going to fall, and it could kill someone,” Hart said. “It’s really weird. There are all these big trees in town that are basically unaccounted for. No one takes care of them.” 

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That particular tree stands on a sort of “no man’s land,” Larimer County Canal No. 2 Irrigating Co. ditch supervisor John Moen told the Coloradoan in May.

The ditch company has an easement but doesn’t actually own the land.

Even when the owner of a tree is clear, questions of who should cover property damage costs can be convoluted.

About two years ago, a wind storm tore a big branch from Henriksen’s living cottonwood and sent it straight through his neighbor’s roof. His unlucky neighbors had to deal with roof damage and subsequent rain damage to their ceiling.

But as it turned out, Henriksen wasn’t liable for the damage. His insurance company classified it as an “act of God.”

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Big trees 'make the city more livable'

The Fort Collins forestry department rarely plants cottonwoods these days, said Buchanan and assistant city forester Ralph Zentz. A city ordinance bans planting female cottonwoods, which spread white fluffy seeds across the city. 

But that’s where the common ground ends between Henriksen and the foresters, who maintain that the benefits of big trees outshine their drawbacks. Big trees can remove more than 70 times more air pollution than small trees, according to a report by tree-planting advocacy group Urban Releaf. 

Large trees also provide habitat for wildlife, prevent soil erosion on river corridors and hold onto water that might otherwise overwhelm city infrastructure.

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Add up all those benefits, and Fort Collins' urban forest is worth more than $700 million in saved stormwater, energy, air pollution and other costs, the foresters said. It will also help the city as it strives to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

That's why the city has no immediate plans to place further restrictions on tree size or species.

“The bottom line is that mature canopy cover just makes the city more livable,” Zentz said during an interview at the forestry office, which is a stone’s throw from the tree-lined City Park. “People visit us from all over, and they always comment on the trees and say how much they like them.”

Count Henriksen out of that group. He’s soon having his cottonwoods shortened to a few feet tall rather than grinding the stumps down, which will save him some money. He'll attach a wood carving to one and cut the other stump to look like a chair, which he'll decorate with flower pots and a birdhouse. 

He’s glad to be (almost) rid of those old cottonwoods.

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Health and safety tips for mature trees

A post by a Bayer Advanced tree care expert on The Arbor Day Foundation's website recommends the following health and safety checks for mature trees. Call an arborist if you notice any of the warning signs listed.

1. Branches: Check for broken or dangling branches and look for cracks where branches attach to the trunk. Missing bark or growing fungus could point to decaying wood and possible structural problems. If there are narrow angles where branches attach to the trunk, those branches could be prone to breaking.

2. Leaves: Trees should leaf out evenly as spring progresses. If there are portions of the tree with uneven coloring or slow growth, there could be a problem or nutrient deficiency. Be sure to also check for signs of insect damage.

3. Roots: If there's fungus or mushroom growth on the roots, the base of the trunk or on the soil near the tree, that could be a sign of decay. Cavities or hollows at the base or in large roots can also point to trouble. Look for cracked or raised soil on one side of the trunk — that could mean the tree is starting to lean or get weak. Roots can also be damaged by new construction or soil compaction. 

4. Trunks: Look for cracks, cavities, oozing damaged spots and missing or sunken bark. Mushroom or fungal growth on the trunk can be a sign of decay.

This information was curated from information provided to National Arbor Day Foundation on April 2016, courtesy of the Bayer Advanced Healthy Trees for Life initiative.