Most of the fallen trees on Whitworth’s Campus are being disposed of rather than being transformed into art or coasters as suggested by multiple Whitworth students and alumni on Twitter.

Due to a smaller lumber market, the lumber from the fallen trees at Whitworth are being ground up into pulp, univeristy arborist Will Mellott said.

“Whitworth is not a lumber business it’s a university, and right now we are trying to clean up the campus as quickly, sufficiently and in the most economic way possible,” Mellott said.

The trees are initially chipped then go through a chemical process to be made into pulp to create new paper products. Due to their soft internal wood which is easy to break down in the chemical process, the pine trees that cover Whitworth’s campus are ideal for pulp production.

However, some of them are turned into pieces of art like the “snowmen” installed in the loop by Whitworth repair man Jeremiah White and groundskeeper August Larsen-Weil on Friday, Dec. 4.

Whitworth is saving money on the disposal cost of the trees through selling the lumber to mills that will further process the wood.

Contact Sarah Haman at [email protected]