A plan to cut down 43 century-old American elm trees lining Market and 10th streets in Colusa has split the small Colusa County community, with residents questioning whether every tree really needs to go. The trees, estimated to be about 120 years old, sit within the state highway right-of-way that Caltrans maintains, and a July assessment recommended removing all of them.
The recommendation came from a Caltrans arborist who cited internal decay, structural concerns, root damage and the potential for falling branches, according to KCRA. A written arborist report dated July 21, obtained by colusacountynews.com, identifies 40 American elms along 10th Street and three more on Market Street, and states plainly that the subject elm population exhibits widespread and advanced symptoms of physiological decline and structural deterioration. Caltrans arborist Kris Mitchell wrote in the report, “I recommend removal of all forty-three (43) subject elm trees.”
A History of Emergency Calls and Falling Limbs
The case for removal leans heavily on the trees' maintenance record. The arborist report documents 99 emergency callouts and 59 routine maintenance work orders tied to the elms dating back to 2019, per the same report. It also describes one recent incident in which a cracked limb broke loose and became suspended in a neighboring tree directly over the roadway, requiring a crew to be dispatched the same day to remove it.
Colusa city official Jesse Cain said Caltrans informed the city that the trees were considered hazardous, according to KCRA. Cain expects removal work could begin before the end of November, the station reported. Caltrans, which maintains the trees because they fall within the state highway right-of-way, is expected to address residents directly at a public meeting Thursday at 3 p.m. at the Colusa Scout Cabin.
Residents Push Back With Their Own Expert
Not everyone is convinced the whole stand needs to come down. Cynthia White told KCRA the proposed removal came as a devastating surprise, and she and her husband, Jim White, say they are worried about losing trees that provide shade and help define the city's landscape. Concerned residents have since hired their own consulting arborist, Gordon Mann, to independently inspect the trees.
Mann disputes the recommendation to remove all 43 elms. His ground-level inspection found fewer trees actually require removal, and he has said additional inspections could help determine which ones could realistically be preserved. Mann also said more trees could potentially be pruned and mitigated rather than cut down entirely, directly conflicting with the Caltrans assessment, which concluded that pruning would not address the underlying decay and structural problems.
Replacement Trees Promised, Details Still Undecided
Caltrans has agreed to purchase replacement trees, with a goal of planting by spring 2027, KCRA reported. The number, species and locations of those replacement trees remain undecided for now.
Colusa has been down this road before. In 2015, county officials declared five dying elm trees near the Colusa County Courthouse a safety risk to pedestrians and motorists, according to the Appeal-Democrat. Those trees, believed to have been planted in 1880, were slated for removal at an estimated cost of about $17,000 after three large branches crashed to the sidewalk, though one tree was kept temporarily to collect shoots for propagation and the move drew some public opposition at the time.
Caltrans has handled similar tree-safety reviews elsewhere in the state. In Humboldt County, the agency brought in a third-party arborist to assess eucalyptus trees planted in the 1920s along a stretch of Highway 101 between Eureka and Arcata, telling the Lost Coast Outpost it wanted to make sure the trees were holding up and to reduce the chances of falling limbs hurting someone. Separately, California's Streets and Highways Code grants Caltrans full possession and control of state highways and property acquired for highway purposes, though that statutory language alone does not spell out how the rule applies to the Colusa elms or settle any other jurisdictional questions tied to the current dispute.
For now, the fate of the 43 trees remains unresolved as residents and Caltrans head into Thursday's meeting with competing arborist findings on the table. Colusa's Parks, Recreation and Tree Commission had already been tracking elm-tree treatment efforts earlier in 2026, with an update on public and private elm-tree work listed as old business for a March meeting, according to commission records.
