Big chunks of this old tree lie between the school and North Albany Road on Monday night, July 7, 2025.
A towering cottonwood in front of North Albany Elementary School was felled on Monday, raising fears that it was just the first to be cut down. But no, the other stately trees on the school grounds (mostly conifers) are safe.
A message on Facebook asked me if I knew anything about about this, which I didn’t. I looked at the aftermath on Monday night and sent a question to Andy Gardner, the superintendent of Greater Albany Public Schools. Why was the tree cut and what happens to the wood?
The answer came from David Bolin, the GAPS executive director of operations.
“The tree was evaluated by an arborist and was determined unsafe due to a split in the middle of the tree,” Bolin said via email. “Mountain View Tree Service performed the work and will remove all material.”
On the phone, Bolin told me that this was the only tree on the grounds thought to have been a potential danger, because of the crack in the middle.
How long had that cottonwood been growing there, on the lawn between the school parking lot and North Albany Road?
Not super old, I would guess. Based on my attempt to count the rings on one big section of the trunk, I would estimate its age at about 40 or 50Â years.
My Facebook correspondent had written: “I have a real fear the district will come in and cut all the trees at NAE and break a lot of people’s hearts…”
I trust she’ll read this and be reassured. (hh)
You can tell from the stump that this was a big tree.
Postscript: GAPS passed along more information provided by the arborist it had hired:
“The tree … was in fact a Black Cottonwood (Populus balsamifera) and was mis-identified by a citizen as an Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana), which is a protected species. The Black Cottonwood was removed due to the co-dominant stem being a potential hazard to persons and property within striking distance of approximately 110-120 foot radius. The objects within the striking distance were as follows: high voltage transmission and distribution overhead power lines, vehicular and pedestrian traffic along North Albany Road.Â
“Black Cottonwoods are … known to have limbs that are susceptible to sudden limb drop, and failure is more prominent if there is a co-dominant stem near the base of the tree… The tree was estimated to be roughly 45-50 years old.”
Guess my own estimate was right on. (hh)
Thanks Hasso for that update – I was worried too –
Forty to fifty sounds about right. The poplar family doesn’t have a real long life expectancy. I had to have a couple felled once on our lot due to being unsafe. We were heating with wood at the time so I decided to split them up for burning. Most difficult wood I ever split. Very stringy.
Thank you!