City Forestry removes 4 dead trees in southeast part of Bancroft Park

Dead trees off the Colorado Avenue sidewalk in the southeast part of Bancroft Park were identified for removal by City Forestry. They are shown above with "photoshopped" X's on their trunks; the one being decided on has a question mark. All those being removed are American elms, except the one at far right, which is an ash. According to Forestry, an indication of the disease is the bark falling off. The photo was taken in the late afternoon of Feb. 26.
Westside Pioneer photo and editing

This photo, taken Feb. 28, shows three of the trees that were definitely identified as dead having been removed and a fourth one - which City Forestry was initially not sure about - being cut down. All four are now just low stumps. A contractor is to come by at a later date and grind them all the way to ground level.
Westside Pioneer photo

City Forestry removes 4 dead trees in southeast part of Bancroft Park

Feb. 26, 2018; updated March 2, 2018
Three or four trees along the parkway in the southeast part of Bancroft Park have died and are being cut down this week. March 2 update: All four trees identified in the original article here, including one that City Forestry wasn't initially sure was dead, have been cut down to stumps, as of March 1.
A Colorado Springs Forestry Division crew started lopping limbs Monday morning, Feb. 26. A Forestry worker Feb. 27 said the trees will

A City Forestry crew removes limbs from trees in the southeast part of Bancroft Park Feb. 27 en route to cutting down at least three dead trees there (see photo at top of page).

Westside Pioneer photo

be reduced to stumps, and a contractor will come by at a later date to grind them down to ground level.
       The 1-acre park is in Old Colorado City, in the 2400 block of West Colorado Avenue.
       Three trees have died - two of them American elms, the other an ash - and are certain to be removed; a decision was still being made on a fourth tree. Those trees are identified in the photo at the top of this page.
       The chief culprit for the trees is bark beetles, according to Forestry staffer Patrick Ford, pointing out that bark coming off is a sign of such infestations.
       Although Forestry is a division of the City Parks, he said the work is not related to a separate department initiative to build a public restroom in the southeast corner of Bancroft, possibly starting this spring. “I just heard about that today,” Ford commented, when approached at the work site Feb. 26.
       He added that no decision has been made on replacements, and all the trees in Bancroft are being looked at. “This park is going to look a lot different in about five years,” he predicted.

Westside Pioneer article
(Outdoors: Bancroft Park)

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