HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-31-26 Public Comment - M. Bateson - Unforgivable Tree Removal on 19th and GrafFrom:Mary BatesonTo:Alison Sweeney; Bozeman Public Comment; Mitchell Overton; Chuck WinnSubject:Re: [EXTERNAL]Unforgivable Tree Removal on 19th and GrafDate:Friday, March 27, 2026 10:30:48 AM
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Commissioner Sweeney, Thank you for your kind response. Unfortunately, in this Wild West, pistols may not be to resolve disputes, but the diggers they use on the trees are quite deadly! They are taking the "ask forgiveness, not persission" route. My hope is that forgiveness will not be given freely, but with real consequence. Sincerely, Mary Bateson, Bozeman Resident
On Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 10:17 AM Alison Sweeney <Alison.Sweeney@bozemanmt.gov> wrote:
Good morning Mary,
The honest answer to your question is; it’s complicated and I don’t know.
What I do know is that ditches are not watercourses, and so the municipal code that regulates them (or impacts to them) was housed in sections 38.360.280 Agricultural water user facilities, and 38.410.060 Easements, item D. There was some disagreement about the language proposed in the draft UDC update,so the existing language was carried over to the new UDC adopted February 1.
Municode (the company) has not incorporated our UDC update into the code yet fully, so it’s not searchable, but if you navigate to 38.310.010 you will find the Agricultural water user facilities section. The section on Easements is still numbered the same.
I believe there are city staff members working with community members to update this section of code, but I haven’t been privy to those conversations. Katherine Berry from Gallatin Watershed Council has been involved, along with some agricultural water users. Katherine would probably be the best person to
talk to about how this is going. I’ve reached out to her myself as well.
Ditches are also regulated by state law which I have not dug into at all. I know at the County level, developers are required to create a contract with ditch companies who have ag user facilities (ditches) running through property they are developing. If the commission ever talks about this I would like to suggest we
do something similar, but I have no idea when or if that will happen. I do plan to raise the issue at our April 28th meeting where we will have a work session on our priorities, but we’ll see if any other commissioners support it as a part of the UDC edits priority, or watershed health priority.
Until then I’m afraid it’s a bit of the wild west out there (though maybe we’re fortunate they’re using lawyers rather than pistols nowadays to resolve disputes?).
I hope this is at least helpful information if not helpful in practical terms. Thank you for always being an advocate for the trees and the natural environment!
Alison Sweeney
406-595-1971
From: Mary Bateson <mbateson5@gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2026 4:13 PMTo: Alison Sweeney <Alison.Sweeney@bozemanmt.gov>Cc: Mitchell Overton <Mitchell.Overton@bozemanmt.gov>Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL]Unforgivable Tree Removal on 19th and Graf
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Dear Commissioner Sweeney,
Thank you for your response. This makes me so sad. I do have a suggestion. Could any developer who carries ou this kind of egregious act be held accountable? Possibly require them to double the funding for the Urban Parks and Forestry "Branch Out Bozeman" for the next several years? This kind of flagrantdisregard for life must be punished, and stopped from reoccuring. We see this much too often in our Valley of Flowers.
Sincerely, Mary Bateson, Bozeman resident
On Thu, Mar 26, 2026 at 4:05 PM Alison Sweeney <Alison.Sweeney@bozemanmt.gov> wrote:
Hi Mary,
Thank you so much for expressing concern about this! It was devastating for me to see. I definitely planned to do an FYI tonight about this incident, but I don’t know if it will be discussed at length. I think this could definitely fall within the purview of the urban forest management plan update which we will be
discussing tonight. Getting this code settled is important.
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 26, 2026, at 3:16 PM, Mary Bateson <mbateson5@gmail.com> wrote:
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Attention Bozeman Comments, Commissioner Sweeney, and Mitch Overton,
Will this event be discussed tonight at the Urban Parks and Forestry meeting? And then again at the next City Commission meeting? This kind of behavior by developers has to be stopped.
At least nine large golden Willows cut down in the ditch at the corner of South 19th and Graf Street! In our code ditches are not considered wetlands or water courses. So this part of the code was never updated. The developer cut down these trees without permission! They
will pay a small fine to the ditch company.
It is an outrage, certainly.
Sincerely,
Mary Bateson, Bozeman resident