Wind storm takes down historic presidential trees on University of Idaho campus

The windstorm that raced across the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday apparently held little regard for history.

The gusts, which peaked at 84 mph at the Moscow-Pullman Regional Airport, severely damaged two trees on the campus of the University of Idaho that were planted by former U.S. presidents.

The wind completely toppled a large Grove Spruce tree in what’s known as the Presidential Grove, which is a living history monument along Hello Walk in front of UI’s Administration Building on the campus in Moscow.

The windstorm caused severe damage to one of its signature trees, a Colorado blue spruce that was planted in 1911 by President Theodore Roosevelt, who had just left office after earlier creating the U.S. Forest Service.

University spokeswoman Jodi Walker said campus crews are hoping to save the tree, which had its top snapped off, but it was too early to predict its fate as of Wednesday evening.

The storm also severely damaged a Port Orford cedar planted in 1911 by President William Howard Taft, who visited the campus the same year but on a different occasion than Roosevelt.

“That tree is likely gone,” Walker said.

However, the storm did not damage a red oak planted in 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson or the Douglas fir planted in 1938 by Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“This is a huge historical loss for our campus, our town and our state,” university president Scott Green said in a news release. “These trees have towered over our university for more than a century, adding to the character and aesthetic of the campus while serving as a living display of U of I’s position on the national stage.”

The storm also took down another 15 trees on campus that were not planted in the Presidential Grove, and a handful of others sustained damage. Those trees will be assessed in the coming days to determine whether they need to come down, as well, Walker said.