Growing Memorial Sandpoint Tree Farmer Plans Memorial Forests Across The Country

Tree farmer Dennis Clark didn’t give much thought to the stranger who telephoned from California.

The woman said her nephew had passed away. Since he worked summers in Sandpoint and loved the area, she wanted a tree planted here in his memory.

Clark obliged. He placed a small pine tree in the woods free of charge.

That was two years ago.

“I’m not even sure I could get back to the same location I planted it,” Clark said. “That got me thinking. It might be nice if there was a place she could go see the tree, and maybe other people just might want to do this.”

That thought budded into Living Forest Memories Corp., a business Clark launched this month to create memorial forests across the country.

For a fee, Clark plants trees in memory of a deceased loved one or to mark a special occasion such as an anniversary, wedding or birth.

For starters, he bought 10 acres of pasture land north of Sandpoint and another parcel in Calgary, Alberta.

The land has been set aside as a forest preserve so it never can be developed or logged.

“I wanted a place where people will know that tree will be there forever. A place where relatives can go 20 or 50 years from now and look at it,” Clark said. “It’s a way to create a new forest and a sanctuary to remember a special person or event.”

Clark, a certified forester who worked 20 years for the Idaho Department of Lands, researched the idea for more than a year.

He found other tree planting programs, even in Sandpoint. The Long Bridge on U.S. Highway 95 is lined with trees planted in memory of someone. The local hospital also has trees dedicated to deceased cancer patients.

But Clark knows of no other program that specifically sets aside land to create a memorial forest of several thousand trees. He’s confident the idea will catch on and wants to start “celebration forests” in every state.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do out here,” he said scanning the treeless pasture. “But it’s going to be nice. I think there will be a big demand for this.”

One reason why is because people are more transient now. They move from state to state, end up renting a home or apartment or live an all-asphalt city.

“People like the idea of helping the environment and having a living memory of someone special, but they don’t have a place to plant a tree themselves,” Clark said. “If they do, they can’t guarantee someone wouldn’t come in after them and cut it down.”

Clark’s already had about a dozen callers interested in buying trees. He will start planting the forest in Sandpoint next spring when conditions are best.

The Sandpoint plot is called Bear Butte Forest. It was logged in the early 1900s then turned into a pasture. It’s a parcel that should have been reforested years ago, he said.

For $49 to $149 people can choose a maple, oak, pine or spruce tree. The trees are about 5 years old and stand 4 feet tall. The forest is set up on a grid system and the trees will be numbered.

Those buying trees get a certificate with a map and grove number so they can find the tree they purchased. A copy will be kept at the local museum.

Clark even checked with the health department to make sure those who want can spread the cremated ashes of a loved in the forest.

“That is not something we are pushing but it’s a nice aspect for some people, to know Uncle George was placed around a tree,” he said. “It’s a place where memories will grow.”

, DataTimes