Farewell Old Monarch
By the time you read this, removal of Highland Park’s historic monarch pecan, known to many as the Big Pecan Tree, may already have begun.
Crews with Preservation Tree were scheduled to begin removal on Oct. 21, town staff said.
Consulting arborist Micah Pace of Preservation Tree has overseen care of the tree since 2016, but treatments were un- able to reverse its continued decline and loss of canopy.
The Town Council in June agreed to his recommendation of removal for the tree and later budgeted $27,000 for that purpose.
Urban Timber Harvest will mill, kiln-dry, and store the recovered timber so the council can consider commemorative uses of the wood, depending on the quality and quantity available.
The town’s lighting contractor will decorate the nearby sister tree for the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony on Dec.5.
