Large Idaho sequoia tree finds new home

BOISE, IDAHO » A large sequoia tree with a history rooted in conservation was standing in the way of progress.

More than a century after it was planted as a sapling in a doctor’s yard in Boise, Idaho, the 10-story tree is on the move, shifting across the street to make way for a hospital expansion. The tree is expected to reach its new turf Sunday. Here are some things to know about it and its trip months in the making.

WHAT’S THE TREE’S STORY?

More than 100 years ago naturalist John Muir sent four sequoia seedlings to Emile Grandjean, a conservation-minded professional forester and early employee of the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho. Of the four sequoias from Muir’s seedlings, the only one that still exists is the one being moved.

St. Luke’s Health System is spending $300,000 to move the 98-foot (30-meter) tree to city property about two blocks away. “We understand the importance of this tree to this community,” said Anita Kissée, spokeswoman for the hospital. Cutting it down “was never even an option.”

WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT SEQUOIAS?

Sequoias in their native habitat in California draw moisture from the misty atmosphere and can live for several thousand years and reach several hundred feet tall. The Idaho sequoia is in a drier, colder climate, and the tree lost its original top in the 1980s due to damage from Christmas decorations. The hospital at that point hired tree experts and the sequoia has since thrived.

REBECCA BOONE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A roughly 100-foot sequoia tree is viewed looking upward from the base of the trunk in Boise, Idaho, Friday. The sequoia tree sent more than a century ago by naturalist John Muir to Idaho and planted in a Boise medical doctor’s yard has become an...

REBECCA BOONE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS An aerial view shows heavy machinery used by workers as they pruned the roots, built a burlap, plywood and steelpipe structure to contain the rootball so they can move the roughly 100-foot sequoia tree in Boise, Idaho, Thursday.

REBECCA BOONE — AP Workers build a burlap, plywood and steel-pipe structure to contain the rootball.