Although property damage from last summer’s violent hailstorm has gradually been repaired, one of the most lasting scars of the July 20 event may be left on nature.
Trees in the city’s parks took an incredible hit, and the cleanup — which is perhaps at a midpoint — could cost more than $100,000 and last far into the new decade.
“This is a huge loss to overcome,” said Margaret Paget, forestry and open space supervisor for Wheat Ridge. “We’re going to do what we can with our money and our labor resources. It will take years and years and years.”
Although a specific count is elusive, Paget said the hailstorm felled hundreds of trees in the city’s parks and greenbelts. A massive undertaking involving city staff and hired contractors collecting the downed trees is approaching completion. However, because of the life cycle, Paget believes the tree deaths will continue.
“We’ve seen a lot of mortality, and it will probably continue through this season,” Paget said. “We still have damaged trees out there that we won’t necessarily remove. They’ll be designated as habitat trees because there’s still value to a standing tree, alive or dead. It still provides a place for animals to live.”
The final stages of the felled tree cleanup conveniently coincide with the ideal planting season for the new trees, an effort that got a kickstart recently because of Arbor Day plantings.
“In the parks we’re going to try to capture the diverse species range,” Paget said. “We’re really trying to create shade in the parks. We’ve lost the canopy, the shade-givers. The smaller trees won’t provide that for years to come.”
Cost estimates for the cleanup are hard to nail down, given that much of the work has been done by city staff in the routine course of their jobs. Paget said grants have provided assistance, including an $80,000 contribution from the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District.
Mayor Jerry DiTullio also said he would feel remiss in not thanking the county commissioners.
“After the storm I contacted (Commissioner) Kevin McCasky and asked if they had any money for trees,” DiTullio said. “We applied for an open space grant for $20,000. We used that money to replace a lot of the trees.”