Tree branches litter Boise yards, sidewalks, streets. Who gets called to clean them up?
Monday morning’s rare May snowstorm has come and gone, but the damage left behind is still clear to see throughout Boise and the Treasure Valley.
Broken tree limbs and branches are scattered across lawns, sidewalks and roads, especially in the City of Trees’ North End, which was hit particularly hard by the storm.
More than 2,000 Idaho Power customers in Boise were affected by power outages on Monday. The majority of those outages came after branches caked in wet snow fell and damaged power lines, Idaho Power communications specialist Jordan Rodriguez told the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday.
A day later, the question many Boise residents might have is: Who exactly cleans up all of this?
A collective effort
Between Boise Community Forestry, Ada County Highway District and Idaho Power, there’s been a collective effort over the past 24 hours to clear Boise of debris.
If there is something on your lawn, chances are it’s your responsibility to pick up. Mike Andrews, forester for Boise Community Foresty, said the best thing you can do is collect any branches, twigs and limbs on your property, and place them at the edge of the road. The forestry group will get them as soon as possible.
“Between our agency — us as the city with the forestry division — ACHD, and those private companies, it seems like all of them can handle any size (branch), any brush that comes their way,” Andrews told the Statesman in a previous interview.
Andrews’ team has primarily focused on the North End, he said, running regular routes throughout the area and grabbing or chipping branches left next to the road.
Boise Community Forestry also has a list of licensed tree services on its website, providing private companies that have certified arborists on staff, and have been inspected and approved by the city.
“We have given them the ability to work on trees right away if need be,” Andrews said, “because we feel like they do safe, quality work.”
ACHD spokesperson Rachel Bjornstad told the Statesman that anyone who sees downed trees and large limbs on streets should contact the highway district for removal at 387-6100 or online, where you can also attach an image to the form.
Many trees and branches fell in Boise’s plethora of parks Monday, and the city is responsible for those.
Downed power lines and outages
Idaho Power is responsible for cleaning up and removing any fallen limbs that have caused damage to power lines or are resting against power lines. The utility reported at least a dozen separate outages on Monday across the Boise area, with many affecting fewer than 100 customers.
“Our group was super busy yesterday dealing with a wide variety of weather-related outage problems,” Rodriguez said. “Power was restored for the vast majority of customers the same day, and oftentimes within a matter of hours or even less.”
Rodriguez said anyone who has an outage or knows of power line damage should contact Idaho Power at 388-2323 or report an outage on its website.
While it cleans up branches and limbs that directly affect its lines, Idaho Power otherwise will leave cleanup to other local services. The company offers a year-round vegetation management program, hiring a line-cleaning contractor to trim trees and bushes that can cause problems.
This story was originally published May 10, 2022 at 6:29 PM.
