50 years ago in Expo history: Low mortality rate of thousands of trees planted for world’s fair

Expo ’74 visitors noted some brown and dying trees on the site, and 50 dead trees had already been removed.

That sounds like a lot, until you consider that 4,000 trees had been planted on the Expo grounds.

Expo officials said that the mortality rate was actually quite low, considering that the trees had been planted on a “tight time schedule.” They said that they had “been blessed with favorable conditions this spring,” which gave the trees time to adjust to their new locations.

They said they were keeping an eye on about 30 more trees, which appeared to be struggling. But they said that a number of these trees might recover, so they did not want to remove them prematurely. The pines and spruces were having the most problems. Landscapers had already planted 10 new trees to replace some of the dead ones.

From 100 years ago: Great Northern Railway president Ralph Budd visited Spokane and delivered good news for the regional economy.

He announced that the Great Northern planned to spend $4.5 million in the region over the next year, including the rebuilding of the railroad’s Columbia River bridge at Wenatchee, Washington, and building a new track serving Fort George Wright.

Budd said he believed the planned improvements “will give an accurate idea to the public of our faith in the Pacific Northwest.”