Tree fight takes turn for worse

SANDPOINT — An ongoing rift between the county and an Oden Bay resident concerning the fate of neighborhood trees took a turn for the worse Monday when both parties called the police on each other.

The discord began in late July, when Bonner County Road and Bridge began maintenance work on Sunnyside Road that involved cutting down various trees and brush to prepare the site for future road improvements.

Sunnyside resident Christine Holbert said the workers indiscriminately cut down historic trees and tore down a homeowner’s fence, claims which county officials deny. To halt the work, Holbert said she briefly chained herself to a group of trees and began lobbying Bonner County commissioners to reconsider the project.

After attending several commission meetings and delivering a petition asking the county to halt its work, Holbert said no more trees were cut down for several weeks.

That changed on Monday, when Holbert said she received an early-morning phone call from Road and Bridge Director Ryan Luttmann, who told her his crew was coming back to Sunnyside to continue clearing debris from the county’s right of way. Luttman said he and the commissioners had reviewed the petition and would only cut down two trees, according to Holbert.

Later than morning, Holbert said she saw a road crew cutting down an entire grove of Aspen trees. When she approached the site, she claims a worker began screaming obscenities at her.

“I rolled down my window and said, ‘Sir, why are you cutting down those trees? Who told you to cut 20 feet in?’” Holbert said. “He looked at me and said, ‘You (expletive). You (expletives) get out of this road.’ He then jumped out of the truck and gets in my face, calling me more horrible names.”

Luttmann disputes Holbert’s recollection of their Monday morning conversation and said he did not tell her only two trees would be cut down. He went on to say he would look into Holbert’s other accusations, but could not discuss individual personnel matters.

“Before I comment on anything, I’d like to get both sides of the story,” he said. “Some of the information I’ve received would contradict some of the statements that have been made.”

While he wouldn’t comment directly on the incident, Commissioner Joe Young said it is all a matter of perspective.

“There’s another side to the story,” he said.

This isn’t the first time Road and Bridge workers have been accused of intimidating citizens. Last May, Cocolalla resident David George woke up to find county workers cutting down trees near his home on Cocolalla Loop Road. George said he called Road and Bridge to ask what was going on and was told the work was “none of his damn business” by a Road and Bridge employee.

The next day, George said he went to the work site to shoot photos of the trees being cut down and was accosted by a county worker.

“He just went off on me,” George said. “He called me a (expletive) and said he knew where I was from and that people like me were coming into town and telling the natives what to do. He said if I didn’t like what was going on I should get the hell away and move. I wasn’t all that intimidated, but here’s this six foot guy covered in dust with a chain saw in his hand.”

George said he went home and again called Road and Bridge, leaving several messages for then-Director Chuck Spicklemire. He said nobody at the department called him back.

Several months prior to the Cocolalla Loop incident, in February 2008, the county commission adopted a new policy requiring county employees to work more cooperatively with the public or risk losing their jobs.

“It’s evidently become a problem where people kind of figured they’re immune,” Commissioner Lewis Rich said at the time the policy was adopted.

—News Editor Keith Kinnaird contributed to this story.