BOZEMAN — Because of disease, a 100-year-old tree is at the end of its life. But one Bozeman resident is hoping to give it another one.
"I bought these two houses here, 108 South Bozeman and 110 South Bozeman, back in 2003 from the city who were going to scrape them to put in a parking lot," says property owner Kent Madin.
Madin says one of the nicest bits of the property is a large elm that has stood in the front yard since the houses were built around 1890.
The huge elm contracted a tree fungus called Dutch elm disease that has slowly deteriorated the tree’s integrity, posing a safety issue for the homes.
"If you look up into the upper branches you can see that a bunch of green foliage, that should be about to turn autumn colors but instead it's pretty threadbare," says Madin.
He says elm is a historically significant kind of tree due to the usefulness of its wood.
"Elm is really cross-grained, unlike say pine or fir—which is easy to split because the grain is straight. Its cross grain makes it very very tough and difficult to split. And so, it was very useful for things back in the day for like wagon wheels," says Madin.
He says he’s sad to see the tree go but hopes it can live on through other means—like posting a sign on the trunk to attract anybody interested in taking a piece.
"We’d love to see people who are interested in woodworking or wood bowl turning, or even people who just want a chunk of it to burn in honor of its service in their fireplace to feel free to come down and get some wood for free," he says.
The tree itself is about 41 inches in diameter, making it too large for non-commercial mills.
Madin adds, "We’re hoping to find someone will a mill large enough to actually cut this lower trunk into slabs."
The planned tree removal is on Sept. 24, and Madin invites woodworkers, millers, or others to come take a look.
You can contact Kent directly at Kent@boojum.com
