Boise parks department slammed for handling of donated tree section

Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part two, with part one having appeared in Saturday’s Tribune.

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McCALL — The city of Boise neglected a section of a large ponderosa pine tree donated 30 years ago from a Donnelly ranch, leading to its deterioration, the widow of the tree’s donor said.

The section of the 126-foot tree, which was 9 feet, 4 inches in diameter at its widest point, was placed in Kathryn Albertson Park in 1989 after being donated by Frank Edwards of Donnelly.

Boise Parks and Recreation recently announced the tree section will be removed as part of other park renovations because the section is beyond saving.

“Unfortunately, the stump is decaying and has rotted from the inside,” parks director Doug Holloway told the online news service BoiseDev.com.

“Our team worked with an outside expert years ago to assess the stump and take measures to stop the decay, but those efforts have not been successful,” Holloway said. “We have been advised that the stump could fall apart at any time.”

The section was not cared for properly, which led to its deterioration, said Lydia Edwards of Boise, the widow of Frank Edwards.

“I discovered they actually had the water sprinklers hitting it and had done so carelessly for years, and the geese were nesting in it,” Edwards said.

Edwards contacted Holloway when she discovered the damage three years ago, but by that time the tree section could not be salvaged.

“The staff did not know what it was or even where it was in the park,” she said.

The tree was estimated to be 500 years old when it died and was felled on U.S. Bureau of Reclamation land near Donnelly used by the Edwards ranch.

Plaques erected with the section note tree rings that showed it was alive as far back as the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Sections of the tree also were donated to Donnelly, Horseshoe Bend and Germany.

Hans Borbonus, owner of Cloverdale Nursery in Boise, assisted in efforts to harvest the tree and place sections on display, Edwards said.

The Donnelly section, located in front of the Donnelly Post Office, is in good condition because of regular maintenance overseen by Edwards, who served as Idaho state treasurer between 1987 and 1998.

“We clean it with rags and paint it with a protective coating,” said Edwards, who said the section in Horseshoe Bend is also in good condition.

“Neglect” is the wrong term to described for how the tree section was maintained, Holloway said in a statement to the Star-News.

“Unfortunately, that location is close to one of the park’s ponds,” he said. “After 30 years, it appears moisture was a contributing factor to the decaying of the wood.”

The parks department is exploring options to “potentially preserve the ponderosa in another way,” Holloway said.

The parks department has agreed to let Edwards recover the timeline plaques and other materials used with the Albertson Park section.

The timeline markers will be placed on the tree section at the Donnelly Post Office, she said.

— Tom Grote, Star-News (McCall), Thursday

Legume crop harvest faces uncertain finish

COLFAX — September’s wet weather has prompted questions about the fate of this year’s garbanzo beans and lentil crops grown mainly on the east side of Whitman County.

With an unknown quantity yet to be harvested, if conditions persist, including dew in the mornings, legumes become harder to harvest.

“The vines and pods when damp and wet, they don’t thrash out. You can’t get that little pod to separate,” Fred Hendrickson, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency Whitman County office, explained.

Storage is also a concern. One wet load can spoil a whole bin.

It is possible that some local fields of garbanzos and lentils will not be harvested. Instead, they will be mowed, burned or tilled under to clear ground in time for fall wheat planting.

“We’re not gonna know for another week or two where we are,” said Hendrickson. “The longer it’s out there, the more danger of quality decrease. We’re just gonna wait to find out if this is a major issue or not.”

Fall wheat planting occurs from mid-September to about Oct. 20.

If some garbanzos are not harvested, a field may first be assessed by a crop insurance adjuster before being abandoned. Many crop insurance policies have a harvest-by deadline, such as Oct. 15.

— Garth Meyer, Whitman County Gazette (Colfax), Thursday