CASPER—An aging, dead hulk of an ash tree trunk sits in front of Sheryl Lockard’s home at the bottom of Washington Park in central Casper. What was once a lush part of what’s dubbed the city’s “big tree area” has now become an eyesore that serves no purpose. 

Except perhaps one thing.

“I’ve had cars slide into this tree,” Lockard said, “and it stopped them from wrecking my car.” 

It’s one of numerous troubled or dead trees that surround her home. Maintaining living trees and removing dead ones is a big ask for someone on a fixed income. “I can’t get that tree out, I’ve got to pay water bills, and electric is high now,” she said. “I’m tapped out.” 

Casper neighborhoods are filled with aging trees planted decades ago as the city was growing that are either past their natural life, or have succumbed to the area’s harsh weather. Removing a century-old tree is expensive, as is regular maintenance for those who are on tighter budgets. Overgrown or dying trees can damage property, or in the worst cases injure or possibly kill pedestrians. 

There was hope for Lockard and roughly 200 other Casper residents facing similar challenges who applied for the Branch Across Casper program earlier this year, according to Casper Parks Supervisor Katy Hallock. 

City of Casper Parks Supervisor Katy Hallock poses near her office in Casper. (Dan Cepeda/Oil City News)

The Branch Across Casper program to help restore Casper’s ailing tree canopy was on the cusp of receiving a nearly $700,000 grant from the Arbor Day Foundation with pass-through money provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. 

“We were just getting ready to start doing yard calls to each property, going out to evaluate the trees,” Hallock said. Contractors were lined up, and starting last March, they had planned to look at the trees, talk to property owners and start selecting properties, focusing first on risks to sidewalks, pedestrians and roads. Applicants who weren’t selected for spring could reapply for another season through 2028. 

But during President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, he handpicked billionaire industrialist Elon Musk to oversee what Musk dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency to help reshape federal spending. Suddenly, federal funds destined for communities across the country were slashed or eliminated altogether. Programs that benefit local health, arts, environment and infrastructure vanished. Branch Across Casper did not escape the ax. 

“We were thrilled and excited for this opportunity,” Hallock said. “You know, as disheartening as [the cut] was to citizens, we were equally as saddened.” 

Winter Storm Atlas dropped record amounts of early snow in Casper overnight on Oct. 4, 2013. Hundreds of trees were damaged, many blocking roads. (Dan Cepeda/Oil City News)

The Tree Canopy 

Time was taking its toll, but it was Winter Storm Atlas, which dumped 16 inches overnight from Oct. 3 into Oct. 4, 2013, that ramped up Casper’s tree problem. The early season storm dropped record amounts of snow onto trees still loaded with leaves. At the time, the blizzard marked the biggest snowstorm so early in the season, coming nearly two weeks earlier than the 18.7 inches that fell Oct. 16-17 in 1998. Casper residents woke to the sound of aching tree limbs and branches cracking and falling by the hundreds. Power outages ensued, and the tree carnage blocked roads and covered lawns. 

“It took months and months to clean up from that,” Hallock said.”Even to this day we still come across trees that haven’t been maintained since the storm.” 

At the time, the 2013 Winter Storm Atlas marked the biggest snowstorm so early in the season. Casper residents woke to the sound of aching tree limbs and branches cracking and falling by the hundreds. (Dan Cepeda/Oil City News)

Then came a sudden deep freeze the following year. On Nov. 10, 2014, the temperature swung from a high of 55 degrees to minus 19 degrees within 24 hours. “The trees were still pushing water, and the water froze,” she said. Elm trees died by the score, along with many ash and juniper trees, and a lot of bushes around town. Many juniper trees bounced back after a couple of years, she said, but the overall impact was significant. 

A 2006 Forest Service study found Casper’s tree canopy to be at 8.9%, Hallock said. After the two storms, the canopy shrank to 3.64%. 

“Some of these trees can take a couple of years to die,” she said, “but once they die, with our winds, there’s a high risk of these trees blowing over.

Winter Storm Atlas snapped and toppled trees as snow piled on leaves and branches until they could no longer bear the weight. (Dan Cepeda/Oil City News)

“We try to address the high-risk trees the best we can, but a lot of these trees are on private properties, and it’s difficult for property owners to be able to afford to have these trees removed.” 

Removing the dead trees was part of the plan. Pruning and maintaining neglected but still living trees was another. The grant money also would have paid to replant the trees with sturdier varieties.

“So what we would see is this urban canopy starting to grow again, and we would have new trees all over,” she said. 

The importance of a healthy tree canopy can’t be understated. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, shade from well-canopied streets can reduce temperatures by up to 10 degrees. The presence of healthy trees in neighborhoods increases property values and reduces energy costs, offers protection from storms, provides homes for wildlife and generally improves mental health. 

“It’s so important to keep that canopy growing,” Hallock said, “and in order to do that you have to continually be planting trees.” 

Bleak future

The rise of unusual and extreme weather is a growing concern as the climate changes, which will likely mean more damage to the existing canopy in the future. Another factor is the increasing threat of pests. 

Donna Hoffman, horticulture extension educator at the University of Wyoming Extension Office, said her agency is watching the migration of one particular pest as it appears across the country. 

“We don’t have the emerald ash borer in Wyoming, at least it’s not reported in Wyoming yet,” she said, “but it’s another pest that we have on the Front Range and in some of our surrounding states, and we do expect it.” 

As the name implies, the critter’s larvae feast on the inner bark of ash trees, making the plants eventually unable to transport water and nutrients to their branches. The beetle was likely brought from Asia by accident on ships or aircraft and was first discovered in Michigan in the early 2000s. “We have the possibility of that pest [in Wyoming] that has decimated the ash trees in the Midwest,” Hoffman said. 

Hoffman had also been looking forward to the now-cancelled Branch Across Casper program, in part because of a planned inventory of Casper’s tree population that would’ve provided up-to-date information on healthy trees. “Finding out what kind of tree survived the last 10 or so years, and finding out what is doing well, would have been really good information for the community, city foresters and private arborists,” she said. “That information could help them plant and diversify the tree canopy.” 

In the months since Branch Across Casper was unexpectedly canceled, Hallock has been researching and applying for smaller grants, knowing that none will likely be as comprehensive. At the very least, the city can still plant trees to hopefully keep Casper’s canopy growing. Last week, the city announced that 79 trees will be planted thanks to the Arbor Day Foundation and the Enterprise Mobility Foundation’s Urban Tree Initiative.

These smaller steps don’t address the lingering problem hundreds of residents still face: what to do with the troubled and dead trees on their properties. 

For now, the unexpected end of the federally-funded program leaves Sheryl Lockard and many like her with difficult choices. She’s already spent money to have the top and most dangerous part of her dead tree removed. But there’s still a large bare trunk as tall as her house in the front yard. 

“I believe I could get it down [near the bottom] for $750, but I think it’s like $1,500 to take the whole thing out,” she said. 

“I can’t do that, there’s no way.”

Winter Storm Atlas damaged hundreds of trees in 2013. Casper is still grappling with the aftermath. (Dan Cepeda/Oil City News)