Patrick Plantenburg helped spread a layer of mulch around the base of a young tree, freshly planted in Missoula’s Pleasant View Park. He wore a neon work vest, white hard hat and gloves. A volunteer heaped the mulch on from a wheelbarrow.
“That should be plenty,” Plantenburg said.
He’s the president of the Montana Urban and Community Forestry Association. Plantenburg and a team of volunteers helped plant more than 30 trees in the park in late May.
The work was made possible by a grant from the Arbor Day and Enterprise Mobility foundations. It was welcome news for urban foresters in Missoula. They’ve spent the last 10 months clearing debris left by a powerful storm that tore through the region last July.
That storm and another in August destroyed thousands of trees in western Montana. Now, volunteers and grant dollars are helping fill in that lost canopy.
“We consider it ‘green infrastructure,’” Plantenburg said. “Just as important as streets, sewer, water and garbage.”
Also at the planting was Missoula urban forestry head Ben Carson. He said the city has exhausted its usual tree-planting budget this year due to storm
“The severity of the storm and the amount of damage was significant, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse,” said Ben Carson, head of Missoula’s urban forestry program.
The city reported storm recovery efforts have totaled more than $4 million. Most of that is covered by federal and state disaster funds, but local taxpayers are expected to shoulder roughly 10%.
Carson said gifts like the one that funded the recent tree planting could help nurse Missoula’s canopy back to health. Last year’s storm destroyed more than 650 trees on city property alone. He said Missoula is still focused on mitigating public safety risks.
“Stumps are obviously a trip hazard in boulevards,” Carson said. “While we don’t have funding for that, that’s going to take priority over replanting efforts at this time.”
City officials said they’re still finding trees damaged by the storm. The total debris collected could form a 40-foot pile across an entire football field.
The three organizations behind the Missoula tree planting held a similar event in Hamilton a week prior. The city was also hit hard by the 2024 storm.
