Most of us don't immediately think about the historic value of a tree. About the way it has marked time in the life of our families, growing alongside our children -- sometimes for generations.
But in the wake of Wednesday's devastating tornado, there's been a lot of talk along those lines.An estimated 700 of Salt Lake City's public trees and 90 trees on the state Capitol grounds were lost as a result of the storm. An untold number of trees on private property are also gone.
Places once shaded by graceful, swaying branches are now laid bare to the summer sun.
They were trees bought and planted in memory of loved ones. Or to commemorate a birth. Garden clubs lovingly placed them in city parks. At the Capitol, they were the gifts of faraway nations, or in the case of two American elms brought from George Washington's home in Mt. Vernon, Va., a piece of our national heritage.
They are 25, 50 and perhaps even 100 years old.
"It's really sad to see because of the historical value of them. A new tree can be planted, but it doesn't replace a mature tree," said Capitol grounds manager Richard Esta as he surveys the mess of branches and end-up tree trunks. "What is amazing is that all the years that they have been here are wiped out in a matter of minutes."
The whipping 150 mph winds did not discriminate on Wednesday, Salt Lake City urban forester Bill Rutherford said. Trees of every species were damaged or lost. Evergreens were hardest hit in terms of a single group. But the toll also was great on pines, elms and sycamores.
Memory Grove park was the hardest hit location in the city, Rutherford said. The storm seems to have come from Capitol Hill, and taken a sharp left toward City Creek Canyon, where it dropped into the Grove.
"The damage is devastating," Rutherford said. "(It) looks like somebody went in there with a huge weed-eater and just sheared the trees."
Meryl Redisch is heartsick over the losses.
The director of Tree Utah, Redisch got married in Memory Grove May 31. She and her new husband went to survey the tornado damage for the first time Friday morning.
"(The storm) changed the whole feeling of the place," Redisch said. "Two days ago it was a place where you could sort of wander beneath the branches and feel almost like you weren't even in the city. Now, you can see the city skyline where you never could before."
Her organization is already mobilizing to help the city put the pieces back together. They have already begun collecting donations and building lists of volunteers to plant new trees when the time comes, she said.
Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini announced a call for volunteer help in the grove late Friday.
Volunteers ages 15 and older can report to the grove on Tuesday at 8 a.m., where they'll help finish the cleanup work -- work that must be done before any talk of new planting can begin. Information about volunteering is available from Kathy Sheehan at the city offices at 535-7936, she said.
Corradini also announced the establishment of the Salt Lake City Tree Fund, to which entities both public and private can contribute. A Salt Lake Chapter of the Rotary Club got the fund going with an initial donation of $5,000, Corradini said.
Both the city and the state may be dependent on private donations if relief money from the federal government isn't made available, said Capitol maintenance facilities coordinator Bruce Whittington. So far, the state office has spent in excess of $150,000 on cleanup, Whittington said.
"If we don't get reimbursed, it'll be a significant impact on our budget," he said.
Regardless of whether the money is coming, however, Esta and his staff will sit down in a few weeks to further assess the losses and begin a plan for re-landscaping the Capitol grounds.
Some of that work began within hours of the storm's furious sprint across the Capitol lawn, he said. Workers made about 50 cuttings of several historic trees -- including the Mt. Vernon elms -- and are keeping their fingers crossed that with care and the right growth hormones, they'll sprout roots.
If it works, eventually they'll be able to replant those trees, Esta said.
"I wouldn't want to bet on our success rate, but maybe we'll get one or two," he said.
In addition to planning for new trees, the grounds staff will have to plan for putting in new kinds of flowers and other plants hearty enough to take direct sunlight and warm temperatures.
"It's a new beginning," Esta said. "I'd really like to put it back as much the way it was as possible. Not so much for me, but for the people of Utah. I think it's important to them."