Numerous residents of the Dream Island neighborhood in Steamboat Springs are frustrated, depressed and upset this week after watching crews continue to remove more than 100 trees surrounding the residents’ homes.

Officials with the Littleton-based real estate holding corporation Ascentia, which has owned Dream Island since 1991, cited safety and liability concerns regarding the trees, which Ascentia says had grown too large too close to homes.

Multiple residents reached out to city officials and the Steamboat Pilot & Today to express their frustrations that too many trees were being removed with the residents having no say in it.

Residents received a notice taped to their doors dated July 8 that tree work would start July 10 for a three-week, large-scale tree removal project that will be “removing all trees within six feet of any mobile home, as well as other safety concerns.”

The notice stated that, “If a tree can be kept, it will be trimmed safely,” but multiple residents pointed out trees Tuesday that were cut down to stumps, saying they were healthy and about 10-15 feet away from homes.

Resident Maquetha Lester said she asked tree removal workers not to cut down a blue spruce near her home but was later asked to leave by a police officer who was called by the workers.

A supervisor on site with Ohio-based National Professional Services did not want to give his name and deferred all questions about the tree removal project to the Dream Island management. Workers told residents they had been provided with list of trees to remove that they were contracted to complete. One worker said the company was a tree “removal” service and not a trimming service.

“I’ve spoken to a few people who are unhappy, but at the end of the day, it’s a contract,” a tree removal supervisor said.

Dream Island resident Chris Whitaker called the large-scale tree removal a “debacle of sadness.”

“I’m so bummed out,” Whitaker said. “It’s just criminal. It really is.”

Speaking in Spanish, resident Diana Licona said she “liked the shade” from two large trees that were removed from in front of her house. The farthest of the tree stumps sat about 10 feet from her front porch.

“I’ve been upset for days over this,” resident Lesley Woodsmith said. “The way they presented it was way different than how it happened. It’s not fair we didn’t get to know about or participate in the process.”

“It’s a pretty shocking experience,” Woodsmith said. “If they had done trimming work on the trees, they would not have had to seize so many trees. They said it was strictly liability. I wish they could have saved more trees.”

In an email, Chris Seifert, vice president of operations at Ascentia, said they have been discussing the tree-removal project with residents and working with various consultants and arborists over the last two years.

“The primary scope of this project is to remove any trees deemed a safety hazard, whether due to age, condition, location or otherwise,” Seifert said. “While tree trimming and maintenance is important, the vast majority of the trees in question are not being removed due to a lack of maintenance, but rather have either grown too large for their location or are at the end of their lifespan.”

“After the project is complete, we will evaluate any further work needed, including planting additional trees in the future,” Seifert said.

On a warm summer afternoon, a number of residents said they are concerned now about the lack of shading and increased temperatures in their trailers.

“I just lost five trees — all of my shade,” said Todd Hoffman, who has owned a home at Dream Island since 1995. “I just ordered an air conditioner because I’m going to roast. It’s just really, really frustrating. It happened really fast.”

Several residents said they understand the safety concerns of large, older trees or branches possibly falling on homes or power lines, and they agree keeping residents safe is important. Past wind storms have caused older, large cottonwood trees at Dream Island to fall between the homes or on a power line, as reported in the Steamboat Pilot in July 2012 and April 2022.

Steamboat Springs Communications Manager Mike Lane noted that the “city controls trees, shrubs and weeds on municipal public property only and has no authority to prevent the cutting of trees on private property.”

Steamboat Springs has been recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA community for approximately 34 years that requires the existence of a local tree board or department. The city’s Parks and Recreation operations function in that required role, but the Tree City USA requirements only apply to city owned property such as parks and medians, Lane said.

“While the city cannot prevent the owner from cutting down these trees, we are concerned about the impact on the health and well-being of the residents of the park, as well as the environmental impacts on the Yampa River,” Steamboat City Manager Gary Suiter said via email.

While removing many tall cottonwoods and trees within six feet of homes, the workers also removed blue spruce, smaller aspen and chokecherry trees, and trees farther from homes. Several residents said they worry the removal of so many trees at once will lead to a number of issues ranging from loss of bird habitat to decreased privacy for neighbors.