LOGAN, Utah — After about a year of some Logan residents trying to save 100-year-old ash trees in their neighborhood, the city has begun cutting 17-20 trees down for a water pipeline project.
"Everybody loves trees. We did not want to take these trees down,” said Andy Neff with the public involvement team on the Logan First Dam Tank and Waterline Project. “But it kind of had to be balanced with the overall wider needs of the community to put this water line in.”
According to state guidelines and to keep up with the growing needs of the city, Neff said they had to do this type of large-scale infrastructure project.
"It involves construction of a 10-million-gallon water storage tank near the mouth of Logan Canyon, and then also a 42-inch water transmission line to take water from that tank to the west side of Logan City,” he said.
But Neff said the most efficient and cost-saving location to do this project was on the north side of Canyon Road.
"Unfortunately, right in the path of these large trees,” he said.
Emma Christopher lives right across the trees. She woke up to chainsaws on Monday morning and watched a tree come down.
“It didn’t even process it in my head that all the trees were getting cut down,” she said.
Along with her neighbors, Christopher tried to convince the city to find a different location for the water storage, or some other way to avoid cutting the trees down.
"Disappointed that the city didn’t listen,” said Wes Mangum, who was also involved with the effort. “We had over 4,000 people sign the petition saying we don’t want to lose the trees.”
From petitions and putting up signs, to tying green ribbons on the trees and being vocal at meetings, residents tried to raise awareness about what was happening and bring change.
On Sunday night, neighbors gathered by the trees one last time.
"It was amazing to see the community. We all tried our best, but in the end, when we lost... we’re just saying goodbye to the trees and it was a beautiful thing,” said Christopher.
Neff said the team is still figuring out what to do with the cut trees. For now, they will be stored, and the city is trying to come up with the best use for the wood.
Christopher said she would like to see them maybe turned into benches, or anything else to help memorialize their importance. Neff added that they do plan to plant more trees in that spot after the construction project.
