Rolling sequoia: Idaho tree tied to John Muir set for move
BOISE, Idaho — Not very often does a 10-story-tall, 800,000-pound (362,877-kilogram) landmark change locations. Especially one that’s alive.
But workers in Idaho will attempt just that starting Friday. A massive sequoia sent to Boise as a small seedling by naturalist John Muir more than a century ago is now in the way of a hospital’s expansion and plans are to move it two blocks away to city property.
“We’ve all got our fingers crossed that the tree is going to make it to its new location,” said Mary Grandjean, the granddaughter of an Idaho forester who received the sequoia seedlings from Muir around 1912.
St. Luke’s Health System is doing more than hoping. It’s spending $300,000 to move the largest sequoia in the state, rather than chopping it down and risking a public relations backlash.