HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-14-26 Public Comment - K. Stoops - UFMP update comments from a renterFrom:Kira Stoops
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Cc:Alison Sweeney
Subject:[EXTERNAL]UFMP update comments from a renter
Date:Monday, September 14, 2026 4:55:46 PM
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As a two-decades-plus renter in the historic Bon Ton district of Bozeman, I would like toheartily endorse the comments of the Urban Forestry team. These comments strengthen
protections for existing trees, which strengthens health for all of Bozeman.
My own home of nearly 20 years, the Evergreen, is named after the trees planted around itsperimeter. These trees have provided shade and privacy to residents and our single family
dwelling neighbors—a benefit I didn't fully appreciate until it was suddenly gone from anearby property.
This summer, several towering, healthy evergreens were clear cut from a residence on Grand
to make way for construction.
Of course, private landowners may do as they wish, but I can't help but feel our neighborhoodwould have functioned better considering these trees as a neighborhood resource.
Although the trees weren't on my property, my air conditioning, noise control, privacy, and
sense of history were cut down with them. And not just mine, but many neighbors nearby...andperhaps even the landowners themselves, not realizing the vast benefit of trees on site.
In the months that have followed, my life is materially different without these trees. These
spruce were taller than my building, sheltering much of it from the sunrise. Without them, by7am, my room was too hot to sleep in, shaving 2 hours off my normal sleep schedule. I was
forced to purchase a $500 A/C to make it through summer in my apartment, now 5-10 degreeswarmer. Further, my former view of trees changed to a view clear to the street—meaning
pedestrians and cars could see me, too. I needed to purchase window sheers for the first time.Quiet nights turned into loud ones as I realized how much noise from Main Street those trees
had intercepted.
I looked up the trees—they easily would have lived several hundred more years, providingbenefits to generations of Bozemanites to come. Instead, their absence will now be
irretrievably felt—in inexpensive climate control, invaded privacy, invasive noise, and aforever lost sense of place.
Caring for the trees is caring for everyone in Bozeman. I fully support the Urban Forestry
Plan's initiatives to do exactly that.
-- Kira Stoops