To maintain a healthy and diverse urban forest, contractors for the City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department’s Forestry division will be performing necessary tree work near Coot Lake.

To maintain a healthy and diverse urban forest, contractors for the City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department’s Forestry division will be performing necessary tree work near Coot Lake.

The work is scheduled for the week of March 27. The trailhead parking lot and sections of the trail will be closed.

The project will include the removal of trees along the trail parallel to 63rd Street. This involves the removal of Russian Olive trees, which are considered “noxious weeds” by the State of Colorado. This work is part of a citywide effort to remove these trees from the area and will allow for improved maintenance access to parts of Coot Lake.

In addition, Forestry staff will remove ash trees along the Coot Lake trailhead parking lot that have been impacted by the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). EAB, an invasive wood-boring beetle, can impact any ash tree within the city not protected by pesticides. EAB is well-established across the Midwest and northeastern U.S and has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees over the past two decades.

Forestry and Natural Lands staff will plant replacement trees for the ash this spring.

As the tree work near the trailhead wraps up, construction staff and contractors will repair the parking lot, including pouring a concrete pad at the entrance to make entering and exiting the parking lot safer for community members.

The tree and parking lot work are scheduled to finish on Friday, March 31 with the trail and parking lot amenities reopening at the end of the day. This work timeline may change depending on weather conditions.

Community members are encouraged to respect trail and parking lot closures. The parking lot at Tom Watson Park on the East side of 63rd Street across from Coot Lake will be open as an alternative parking spot.

City Forestry staff manages approximately 51,000 public trees in city parks and street rights-of-way. They are committed to maintaining a healthy and safe urban forest as well as preserving an extensive and diverse urban canopy for future generations. Trees touch everything. We need them, they need us, and it’s a long-term relationship.

Learn more about how the city is managing the spread of EAB at bouldercolorado.gov/emerald-ash-borer-and-other-pests.

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