HELENA – Arborists spent Monday morning cutting down the old elms outside the original Governor’s Mansion.
According to the Arbor Medic, a company based out of Bozeman that specializes in trimming and grooming trees, the elms are becoming hazardous to the historical building due to their location and height, and are at risk of being blown over in a storm.
If one of the large elms or a limb came down on to the building, it could cause irreparable or significant damage to the historic structure.
Foreman for Arbor Medic, Cody Tarver, said it’s important to remove the elms in order to protect the mansion despite the tree’s historical value.
“So, we are taking these trees down to eliminate hazardous, potential, risk to the mansion,” Tarver said. “It’s deemed by the society that overlooks the property that it’s better off to go this route and do preventative maintenance, instead of potentially doing some historical interventions do to a limb or litter falling on the mansion.”
Trees that are consistently cut back damage the tops of the tree and leave wide cuts which are harmful.
Tarver also said the Historical Society may plant smaller trees that do not grow as tall after the four elms are removed.
By Christine Sullivan – MTN News
