Most Trees Will Remain On Dike Road

A cyclist takes advantage of the warm weather while pedaling along the dike road in Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday. (SR photo: Kathy Plonka)

There’s good news for folks who enjoy strolling through the filtered light from towering pines along Coeur d’Alene’s Rosenberry Drive. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has changed its policy related to trees on flood-control levees, saying the trees’ presence won’t jeopardize a community’s ability to qualify for disaster relief funds. “This is huge,” said Gordon Dobler, the city’s engineer. City officials had planned to apply for a variance to keep many of the trees on what’s known locally as the dike road, a levee separating Lake Coeur d’Alene and the Spokane River from North Idaho College and the Fort Grounds neighborhood. But the corps’ shift in policy simplifies matters for the city, Dobler said. Some of the trees will still come out. More than 1,000 trees were inventoried by experts and roughly 360 were identified as dead or unhealthy. But even after the thinning, big ponderosas will remain to frame views of the waterfront, Dobler said/Becky Kramer, SR. More here

Question: Should all the trees be left? Or should the city go ahead and thin 360 dead or unhealthy trees?