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from the issue of November 8, 2007
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Landscape Services nurses plantings back into shape
1997 blizzard remembered
BY TROY FEDDERSON, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Jeff Culbertson knew it was going to be bad.
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| | | STORM MEMORIES - Trees around Architecture Hall following the October 1997 snow storm.
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Rumbling down 33rd Street in a coworker's truck - his own driveway blocked by a downed Sycamore - the manager of landscape services for East Campus still hoped for the best as Lincoln started to recover from 13.5 inches of wet snow that fell Oct. 25, 1997.
"I just recall wanting to get to campus," Culbertson said. "The branches along 33rd Street were heavy with snow and formed a low archway over the street. We were dodging downed limbs and trees. It was such a mess.
"All I could do was pray that campus had been spared, that it wouldn't look anything like I was seeing."
That hope was soon redirected, channeled toward a clean-up effort aimed at erasing damage from the 200-year storm. In total, UNL lost 1,100 trees from the storm and collected a foliage insurance settlement for $1.3 million, said Elaine Bergt, director of Landscape Services who worked outside campus in 1997.
"I remember thinking it would be an endless job," Culbertson said. "But, it's amazing to look around both campuses today. You would never know there was a storm - unless you know what to look for."
Landscape Services employees started the recovery effort on Sunday, Oct. 26. They started clearing sidewalks, removing limbs in high traffic areas and placing warning tape in the more dangerous areas.
"We just tackled it piece by piece," said Laurence Ballard, nursery supervisor for Landscape Services. "There was no complaining about how much work we had to do. Everyone came together and did what needed to be done."
The camaraderie ranks among Culbertson's most positive memory of that storm.
| | A Scotch pine outside the Dairy Store on East Campus was severely damaged by the storm and has been sculptured by Landscape Services.
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"You hear about how people pull together in a crisis, how they work hard without complaining to help each other out," Culbertson said. "That is what we experienced after that storm. We had the capacity to do something that seemed really impossible."
James Moeser, who served as chancellor at the time, lauded the recovery efforts in a Oct. 31, 1997 Scarlet story.
"Landscape Services' crews have been heroic in their attack of the problems. These people have a special attachment to our grounds and landscape, and their professionalism has shone throughout. We thank them for their ongoing work in what is an emotionally difficult time."
Today, Landscape Services workers use lessons learned from the storm when pruning campus trees.
"I think the damage to campus would have been much more severe if we didn't have trained arborists on staff making sure out trees were properly pruned," Ballard said. "We did learn a few things as a result of that storm. We keep things pruned in such a way that they can handle really devastating situations. But, I don't think you can prune for a 200-year storm that dumps 13 inches of wet snow on limbs holding their leaves."
Culbertson and Kirby Baird, manager of Landscape Services for City Campus, still oversee the removal of a tree or two annually that shows damage from the 1997 storm.
"It's hard to pinpoint the exact reason for the tree dying," Culbertson said. "But, when you see a big wound caused by that storm, a place where fungus can get in and rot a tree out, you wonder if it wasn't that snow storm that caused the death of the tree."
Landscape Services also continues to nurse along a handful of trees that were severely damaged by the snowfall.
"You may not notice it, but one of those is a Scotch pine in front of the Dairy Store," Bergt said. "We've pruned it in such a way that is it sculptural."
She said Landscape Services has resisted a handful of efforts to replace the tree - even placing a plaque at the base of the pine, explaining the storm, the damage done and why the tree remains standing.
"When I tell people that that tree is a survivor, of what it went through in that storm, they usually agree that we should let it stand," Bergt said. "That tree is a way for us to remember the damage done and how we've recovered from that storm."
The Scarlet is looking for personal stories tied to the October 1997 blizzard. Submit your experiences via e-mail to scarlet@unl.edu. Please include your name and job title. All submissions will be compiled and added to the online version of this story.
GO TO: ISSUE OF NOVEMBER 8
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