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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend June 16, 2005 Gary Wilbur of Busy Beaver Tree Service cleans up after most of a ponderosa pine is felled from the hillside at Britt Festivals. The remaining stump will serve as a lamppost until its removal in the fall. Britt tree topped Experts feared that the dead ponderosa pine posed a threat of falling down during a concert at the Jacksonville music venue By BILL VARBLE Mail Tribune The big ponderosa pine that stood for years near the concession stand on the Britt hillside in Jacksonville is no more. An arborist hired by the county finished the job of removing most of the tree Tuesday. "It was dead as a doornail," Britt’s Ron McUne says. "We noticed it on a walk-through." When he saw the brown needles, McUne called Paul Korbulic, director of roads, parks and planning for Jackson County, and told him the tree had turned brown after seeming healthy last year. Britt and county workers routinely check trees on the county-owned site, the former home of pioneer Peter Britt. The winter before last, two trees on the grounds fell down when nobody was around. The worst fear would be a tree falling on a crowd. To head that off, the county had an arborist remove tree "sails" that could catch the wind. "They’ve had a lot of arborists out to give opinions," McUne says. "They thinned all those trees last year so there’d be less wind resistance." Advertisement Some of the trees lost over the years have been replaced with young trees. The ponderosa stump will remain on the hill to support lighting during the Britt Festivals’ summer season, then be removed in the fall. Britt presents concerts at its pavilion through early September. The county awarded the $1,800 removal job after putting it out for bids. A $2 service fee on every Britt ticket sold pays for maintenance of the grounds. "At this point we don’t know why it died," Korbulic says. "We’ve had root rot problems out there, and we’ve had insect problems. "Numerous arborists and entomologists from the Forest Service have looked at the trees out there." Parks program manager Randy Hutton suspects it wasn’t bugs. "Pine beetles kill from the top down," he says. "This one turned brown all over." Hutton suspects trees at Britt have fallen victim to solid compacting from the crowds, and to the watering of the lawn on the hillside. "I think it’s both," he says. The lawn provides a surface for concertgoers to sit on and have picnics. But native trees such as madrones and ponderosas are adapted to the summer dry season and don’t want the irrigation that comes with a lawn. "They’re probably doomed in the long run," Hutton says. "We hate losing the doggone things. But it’s better this way than for it to go when there’s a crowd." Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy online casino Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Reservationstogo Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Natto Kinase Nattokinase Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Investments & Loans Advertisement s