(Posted July 31, 2007)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The Huntingdon Borough Tree Commission, in collaboration with Juniata College, will be removing eight Norway maple street trees planted along Moore Street between 18th and 17th streets. The Norway maples, estimated to be more than 40 years old, are in poor health and in some cases the trees are dying. The space where the maples are planted is about 18 inches wide, which restricts root growth. In addition, heat generated by the sidewalk on one side and the curbed street on the other side has contributed to the trees\' decline. \"Norway maples are a popular street tree and they were planted all over the eastern United States, but they need room to grow,\" explains Jeff Meadows, grounds supervisor at the college. Meadows says the college will replace the older maples with another species of maple, the paperbark maple. Paperbark maples, which have a distinctive cinnamon or copper trunk that sheds bark, making it a visually interesting tree in the winter, is considered an ornamental tree, growing to a height of 20 feet with a 15- to 20-foot canopy. The tree commission and borough workers will remove the Norway maples (probably within the next week or two). Juniata\'s facilities workers will plant the paperbark maples this fall. \"Fall is probably the best time to plant trees and we\'d like to wait until the weather changes to get more reliable rainfall,\" Meadows says. Juniata plants about 10 new trees every year around the campus. \"For every one we remove we usually plant three to replace it,\" Meadows adds.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.