City of Missoula Plans for Death of 8,000 Urban Trees

Missoula Urban Forester Chris Boza said thousands of trees in the city are nearing the end of their life and that the city has completed a draft plan on what to do when they inevitably die.

"We have an urban forest in Missoula of about 24,400 trees. Some of them are old, some of them are younger," Boza said. "We have about 8,000 trees that are very close to the end of their lifespan and in the next 10 to 20 years they'll be gone."

The areas of town most affected include the university district, the slant street area and the Northside where many of the trees were planted in the early nineteen hundreds. Boza hopes the public will get involved in upcoming public hearings.

"I would like to invited the citizens of Missoula to attend a public workshop. We are holding two on January 29," Boza said. "One will be at 4 p.m. and the other will be at 7 p.m. and they will be held at the community room in Southgate Mall."

The city is currently accepting public comments on the draft urban forest master plan. The public comment period will go through February 6.