Boise thunderstorms have left behind downed trees, branches, sticks. Who cleans them up?

Two evenings of severe thunderstorms in the last week have left their mark on downtown Boise and surrounding areas, with downed trees and branches littering yards and roadways.

More than 1,500 Idaho Power customers in Boise were affected by power outages on Wednesday, with the National Weather Service reporting several downed trees across the city.

A couple of days after a storm, the question many Boise residents might have is: Who exactly cleans up all of the mess?

A collective effort

The Boise Community Forestry, Ada County Highway District and Idaho Power all pitch into clear debris after a severe storm.

If there is something on your lawn, chances are it’s your responsibility to pick up. Mike Andrews, forester for Boise Community Foresty, said the best thing you can do is collect any branches, twigs and limbs on your property, and place them at the edge of the road. The forestry group will get them as soon as possible.

“Between our agency — us as the city with the forestry division — ACHD, and those private companies, it seems like all of them can handle any size (branch), any brush that comes their way,” Andrews told the Statesman.

Andrews’ team has primarily focused on the North End, he said, running regular routes throughout the area and grabbing or chipping branches left next to the road.

Boise Community Forestry also has a list of licensed tree services on its website, providing private companies that have certified arborists on staff, and have been inspected and approved by the city.

“We have given them the ability to work on trees right away if need be,” Andrews said, “because we feel like they do safe, quality work.”

ACHD spokesperson Rachel Bjornstad told the Statesman that anyone who sees downed trees and large limbs on streets should contact the highway district for removal at 387-6100 or online, where you can also attach an image to the form.

The City of Boise is responsible for trees that fall in Boise’s parks.

Downed power lines and outages

Idaho Power is responsible for cleaning up and removing any fallen limbs that have caused damage to power lines or are resting against power lines. The utility reported at least three separate outages on Monday across the Boise area, one of which affected over 1,000 customers downtown.

Rodriguez said anyone who has an outage or knows of power line damage should contact Idaho Power at 388-2323 or report an outage on its website.

While it cleans up branches and limbs that directly affect its lines, Idaho Power otherwise will leave cleanup to other local services. The company offers a year-round vegetation management program, hiring a line-cleaning contractor to trim trees and bushes that can cause problems.