Every tree that falls at Iowa State is given a new purpose on campus. 

Iowa State annually loses around 3 dozen trees. Most of them are chipped and used as mulch, but some are salvaged through facilities planning and management’s TreeCycle program. 

Trees on campus are taken down for multiple reasons. Sometimes the tree presents a safety hazard, or is in the way of a construction project. Other times the tree may be declining in health, or already dead.  

The select few that are saved from the chipper have criteria to meet. 

Trees need to be large enough for lumber, and long enough to be sawn into planks. Generally, oak, hard maple, and walnut are saved through the program.

This idea generated after a tornado blew through Ames on Sept. 8, 2005. Around 70 campus trees were knocked down, including the state’s largest scarlet oak.

According to Inside Iowa State, Chris Martin, an art and visual culture professor, was offered the wood from the scarlet oak to be used in a project. Earlier on, he had been asked to design and build furniture for the Christian Petersen Art Museum as part of the Morrill Hall renovation.

Martin combined the two requests and had his students help design benches and other furniture for the museum using the wood from the fallen oak.

Currently, more than 450 pieces made from Iowa State trees are scattered throughout campus.

Rhonda Martin, a campus landscape architect, said each piece of wood is too unique to be used for a project as big as something like flooring.  

“We have kind of special wood, that’s almost individual, which makes great furniture and great stories,” said Martin.

Some TreeCycle additions around campus include the walnut counters in the Friley Windows dining center, and benches to honor the recent retirements of former FPM director Dave Miller and senior vice president Warren Madden.

Iowa State is not alone in their sustainability efforts, many universities have similar programs. Martin said we are ahead of the University of Iowa, who does not have a program like ours but is looking to start one.  

Rhonda Martin said about 15,000 board feet of TreeCycle wood is in storage.

“I don’t know if people have taken advantage of it as much as they could,” Chris Martin told Inside Iowa State.  

This wood is available for campus projects and students taking certain classes. It is also sold through ISU Surplus sales.  

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