The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) plans to remove about 20 dead, dying or otherwise hazardous trees surrounding Mansion Field in Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick within the next two to three weeks. The project is being undertaken to protect public safety, as the aged trees surround an area of the park that hosts DEM’s weekly farmers’ market and other public events. With large limbs collapsing regularly, even in non-storm-related circumstances, DEM is taking the necessary steps to ensure the safety and well being of park visitors.

“It pains me to think about bringing down large, stately trees that were once considered to be some of the best specimens of their species in New England, but the reality is that they have lived well past their expected age span – and their structural integrity – and they are hazardous,” DEM Director Janet Coit, said in a statement. “We need to do this.”

A gem of the Rhode Island State Parks system, Goddard Memorial State Park was gifted to the State for park purposes in 1927 by the children of Colonel Robert Hales Ives Goddard, in memory of their father. A former family estate of Colonel Goddard, the 490-acre park formally opened in 1930. According to the late RI State Parks historian Albert Klyberg, the Goddard estate had been developed as a private arboretum and had fine groves of local tree species and some of the best “specimen” trees in New England, including some 62 deciduous species and 19 varieties of evergreen. Despite storm ravages, such as those inflicted in the Hurricane of 1938, the arboreal beauty of the park survived many generations.

Time, however, has taken its toll. Arborists in DEM’s Division of Forest Environment have evaluated the site and identified trees that require immediate removal, along with additional trees of high concern.  Specifically, the work includes the removal of 19 dead, decaying, and diseased trees from Mansion Field and its overflow parking area.

The trees that will be removed have significant structural issues and could pose a risk to public safety if left untouched. Included are a declining maple near the porta potties and a beech in the farmers’ market area with a history of breakage, sprawling limbs, and decay. One of the trees to be felled is a red oak designated as a “champion tree” by the RI Tree Council that has a crown spread of 117 feet – the second-widest spread of any recorded tree in the state. DEM arborists also identified seven trees that do not require immediate removal. These trees will be pruned as needed and will continue to be monitored.

“As a tree lover who appreciates all they do to make our lives better, I understand how people can become attached to trees,” Director Coit said. “We are removing these trees, however, because they are a threat to public safety. I want to assure the public and frequent visitors to Goddard Memorial State Park that DEM will work closely with the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission in developing a plan to re-vegetate the Mansion Field area that includes the right species planted in the right locations at the right times.”