City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/84984
While working as a volunteer during the clean-up, I was struck by the sight of the trees. Although many were uprooted, thousands stood like ghosts, stripped bare of leaves, branches, and bark by the 200 mph wind. Clearing wind-thrown trees is challenging, even for experienced loggers. There is every kind of stress possible–compression, tension, shear, and torsion–sometimes all in the same log. Root balls return to their upright posi- tion with amazing speed once the stem has been cut, and the grit in the logs made short work of a sharp chain. The presence of other volunteers–some of whom had just purchased their first chain saw for the occasion�made the job even more hazardous. Several times, I had a tree roll unexpectedly because someone else decided to work on the same tree without bothering to say anything. Most chain saw-wielding volunteers wore no safety gear, and some came in shorts and sandals. A coordinator told me that a volunteer had cut him- self open with a chain saw the previous day and required a number of stitches. As I stood in line to get a free tetanus shot, I wondered how many volunteers went to the hospital with a nail embed- ded in a foot. Those of us with hard hats, chaps, and steel-toe boots tended to work together and let the others figure out how to free their pinched bars–although, tightly wedged in a log was prob- ably the best place for their saws! Trees have emerged as a symbol of hope and renewal in Joplin. Those that survived the tornado are cherished, and many homeowners planted new trees even before the last of the debris of their homes had been cleared away. Pledges for dona- tions of seedlings are coming in from nurseries around the country, but urban forester Jon Skinner is concerned about the future of the trees. "We're getting all these donations of trees, but most homeowners don't take care of them," he says. "And we don't have the city staff to take care of transplanted trees in the parks. I tell people to let The author winches a post oak log onto the bed of his portable sawmill. The log came from a tree that was salvaged after the 2011 Joplin, MO tornado, and will be used to make furniture for the Elk's Lodge, which was destroyed. www.urban-forestry.com 35