Beloved University Stadium shade tree becomes storm casualty

Aug. 31—Just how important and meaningful was a cottonwood tree that was removed from inside University Stadium on Tuesday?

Well, University of New Mexico football coach Danny Gonzales addressed the matter during his press conference ahead of Saturday's season opener against Maine in the stadium now absent of the huge cottonwood in its southeast corner that has provided shade for many fans.

The tree was split in two by wind in the rainstorm of Aug. 22 and later deemed unsafe because of its instability.

Gonzales did get to other topics such as the Black Bears and the Lobos' vaunted defense, but the pressing matter of the cottonwood would not be ignored.

Gonzales, who played football and began his coaching career with the Lobos, said it's sad that the tree is gone. He said the tree had been there since 1960.

"We'll miss it," he said. "We'll reflect on it."

But as he has shown while confronting other unfortunate incidents, Gonzales tried to find positives stemming from what was referred to in a UNM Athletics press release as "University Stadium's beloved Cottonwood tree," that was axed by electric chain saws into smaller parts and thrown into a wood chipper.

Gonzales said he took a branch home as a souvenir.

"Although it was a beautiful tree, it creates movement in our stadium and that's OK," Gonzales said. "Things change."

Gonzales believes the fans who crowded the area under the tree can now move to other parts of the stadium and create a different atmosphere.

Gonzales said he recently met with UNM student body government and students for ideas of a new location for the student section at University Stadium, leaving the area on the east side behind the visiting team.

He said the students will now sit in the north end zone, joining a rambunctious group known as the "North End Zone Howlers." The UNM band will also move to one corner next to the new student section.

"They are excited to partake in that area of the stadium, which is really cool," Gonzales said. "I sold it ecstatically. They were on board, and if they had any reservation we would have changed. ... If we can create an environment with the student body, that stuff becomes contagious within our entire stadium."

Before deciding to chop down the cottonwood, UNM consulted its supervisor of arborculture, Allan Billau, who said the tree was showing signs of decay after the recent monsoons.

The split of the tree came at its base and it caused half of the cottonwood to fall onto the grass slope.

"It's truly a sad day having to remove our Cottonwood tree due to the damage, but the safety of our fans will always come first," UNM athletic director Eddie Nuñez said in the release. "We looked into any possible way to save a portion of the tree, but the damage was just too severe."

ANOTHER TREE LEAVES: Their friends across the street can understand the Lobos' pain.

Ahead of opening day in April 2003, the Albuquerque Isotopes planted 20 trees in the area beyond the center-field wall — an area called the "batter's eye" that is required by Major League Baseball to be dark in color so hitters can pick up the white baseball being thrown out of a pitcher's hand.

Though they were far too small then to be part of the actual "batter's eye," those 20 Layland Cypress trees grew through the years into a large, green presence at Isotopes Park with a view of the Sandias behind them.

One of those trees this year died after being infested with beetles. And although the team's grounds crew and city of Albuquerque did all it could to try and save the tree, according to general manager John Traub, it was removed in May.

"We did everything we could have done," Traub said. "They treated it. They had arborists come out to look at it. Unfortunately, it was past the point of no return. So, they ended up having to cut it down."

Although it isn't in a spot that affects the "batter's eye" for hitters, fans in the stadium looking from their seats may notice a brown spot with a tree stump at the far left of the otherwise healthy row of trees.

The Journal's Geoff Grammer contributed to this story.