DEADWOOD (AP) -- About 136 mature trees will be removed from the 130-year-old St. Ambrose Cemetery as part of an effort to repair past damage and protect grave plots.
According to media reports, the tree removal is part a $1 million preservation master plan that includes the addition of perimeter fencing. Work is expected to be completed by early fall.
Between one-third and one-half of the cemetery's trees will be removed, and some of them are hundreds of years old.
Deadwood historic preservation officer Kevin Kuchenbecker says some of the trees are weakened with split trunks that could fall and damage the decorative fencing. They're also being removed as part of forest management effort.
The cemetery has been used since 1880 and is believed to include more than 600 internments, with about 250 of those recorded.
