Montreal readies to cut massive trees in La Fontaine Park to protect public

Montreal's La Fontaine Park has some of the city's oldest trees. They are Carolina poplars that have been around since the 1920s, before the area was a public park. 

Fifty metres tall and more than a metre wide, they serve as a home to squirrels and birds. They give shade to the children's playground, or those out for a quiet stroll through the iconic green space.

But city engineers say, after more than a century, these trees are at the end of their life cycle and have to come down.

Guillaume Couture, a forestry engineer with the city, showed CBC News some of the health problems the trees face, such as fungal growth that is degrading the physical and chemical quality of the wood.

"In this tree, you can see a cavity at the branch," he said pointing to one of the reaching arms of a thick-barked poplar.

Using special radar tools, engineers were able to see the wood inside has rotted away. Couture said that means parts of the tree could snap off, injuring people below — something that is not unheard of in a cityscape known for its large and aging trees.

One infamous case occurred in August 2006. Gabriel Rossy, 27, was in the driver's seat of his parked car on Côte-des-Neiges Road in Westmount during a violent storm when an old poplar crashed down onto his vehicle. He died.

The coroner's report on Rossy's death confirmed the tree was rotten and said the accident was preventable.

Public safety prioritized 

Seven 100-year-old poplar trees in La Fontaine Park were cut for safety concerns in 2016. The year before, some branches fell. No one was hurt, but an investigation into the incident found they needed to be cut.

Of the 20 ancient poplars in the park now, workers will cut down six by April 22. Then another two within three years. The dozen left will have their branches pruned. 

Noor Mahfouz, a landscape architect with the city, said it's not a decision Montreal takes lightly. 

"It's hard for us to cut them. But when it comes to the security of our population, we prioritize it. So it's something we have to do," Mahfouz said.

Workers cut down about 30 trees a year in La Fontaine Park, but they are usually not this big and noticeable. 

Larger felling operation 6 years ago

In May 2019, residents of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough who live near the park were serenaded by chainsaws for several days as crews cut down 4.3 per cent of the park's trees.

In that case, it was trees that were damaged during the ice storm of 1998. Workers had made an effort to slow their decline, but eventually they needed cutting.

At that time, the trees came down with mixed emotions, as some residents agreed it was a public safety hazard while others were sad to see the trees cut.

There have been cases of residents protesting tree cutting, but Couture said the city wants to get ahead of those concerns — putting out notices and posts online. Eventually, they will all have to be cut down, he said.

"But we're going to be sure that, when we are forced to cut it down, that we have no choice but to do it," he said.

Nowadays, there are about 3,300 trees in the park, mostly maple and oaks. There are some chestnut and hazelnut trees, and of course, the poplars. While more than 230 trees have been cut since 2019, 238 have been planted.

The city plans to replant red oaks in the fall, which are native to Quebec and need little upkeep. But it will take decades for them to grow and reach the heights of the poplars.