It’s been nearly one year since a tornado ripped through Highlands Ranch, taking hundreds of trees with it. And, National Arbor Day on April 26 became an opportunity for the community to recover from the loss.
Over 800 trees were destroyed on Highlands Ranch metro district property and hundreds more were uprooted and damaged during the June storm. Trees along the roadways disappeared, leaving holes in the ground, and for weeks, residents worked to remove damaged trees from their yards.
To help recover, dozens of volunteers spent a day planting new trees at Big Dry Creek Park on this year’s Arbor Day.
Volunteers with Boy Scouts Troop 870 and the Centennial Water and Sanitation District focused their attention on that park, which was significantly impacted by the tornado.
“We’re grateful to have the help of these wonderful volunteers as we make progress restoring our tree canopy,” Ken Standen, the metro district’s director of operations and maintenance, said in a statement.
Purchased with a Reforest Colorado grant from the nonprofit Colorado Tree Coalition, new oaks, lindens, maples and other tree species were planted throughout the park.
“We are planting around 225 new trees across our community this spring during the first year of our seven-year replacement plan,” Standen said.
Although Highlands Ranch may not look like it, there are more than 14,500 trees in its “urban forest” along roadways, parks, open space and neighborhoods, according to the metro district.
Many watched as piles in parking lots of local parks grew taller and taller with tree limbs last summer. To properly dispose of tree limbs, the metro district often provides free community limb recycling locations.
On May 5, residents can recycle discarded tree limbs and woody plant materials that may have been damaged in recent wind, hail and snow storms. The recycling event will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Redstone Park, near Halftime Help Stadium, at 3270 Redstone Park Circle.
To help preserve existing plant life, the metro district is also working to eradicate all Russian olive trees in the community. The invasive trees were not originally planted with bad intentions, according to the district website, but they have been illegal to sell in Colorado for about 20 years.
The district is offering a homeowner incentive program to remove the Russian olive trees on residential property. Homeowners are eligible to receive $150 — per household, not per tree.
Homeowners must apply for the incentive program online, and a metro district forestry staff member will verify the tree is on the property and that it’s removed. It is up to the homeowner to remove the tree.
The metro district has a board that oversees trees in Highlands Ranch, along with a tree-care ordinance. The ordinance is a set of guidelines adopted by the district in 1988 that assigns authority over public trees and provides guidance for planting, maintaining or removing trees from parkways, parks and other metro district property.
Highlands Ranch has been recognized by Tree City USA for more than 30 years due to the district’s dedication to maintaining the health of existing trees and fighting tree-related insects and diseases. Tree City USA is sponsored by The Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters.