Gallery: July storms take down more than 80 campus trees
A eucalyptus tree lies across the ground on the west side of Centennial Hall after a monsoon struck the Tucson area on Sunday, July 14.
Chris Kopach / Facilities Management
Much of Tucson was hit with a severe monsoon on July 14 – many homes and businesses suffered storm damage, and the university was no exception. Chris Kopach, associate vice president for university facility services, says more than 80 trees throughout campus were taken down by that and other July storms.
"We are in the process of cleaning up all the trees," Kopach said. "Some of the trees we lost on campus were iconic, some more than 80 years old, just uprooted or snapped in half."
View a photo gallery of the storm damage.
Kopach said it's too early to know exactly what kinds of trees will replace those that fell, but said that Facilities Management is working on a replacement plan and intends to engage the Campus Arboretum regarding curation decisions.
he and the FM team are working on a replacement plan and intend to engage the arboretum regarding curation decisions?
According to the Campus Arboretum, which helps oversee the preservation of trees at the university, there are almost 8,000 mature trees growing on campus, including about 1,800 that that produce potentially edible products.