Effort to replace dead and unhealthy trees at Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville expected to take decades

About 700 dead or unhealthy trees were removed nearly a year ago and work has begun to add topsoil and plan for what is expected to be a lengthy effort to rehabilitate the trees in 40 memorial groves and along a central walkway.

SHANKSVILLE — Officials say it will take decades to replace and revitalize trees at the national memorial in western Pennsylvania to the crew and passengers who died there when a hijacked airplane crashed on Sept. 11, 2001.

About 700 dead or unhealthy trees were removed nearly a year ago and work has begun to add topsoil and plan for what is expected to be a lengthy effort to rehabilitate the trees in 40 memorial groves and along a central walkway.

The crescent of groves at the Flight 93 National Memorial commemorate the 40 passengers and crew killed when they acted to force down their airplane hijacked by al-Qaida terrorists before it could be used as a weapon against Washington, D.C. Passengers in the flight from New Jersey to California memorably declared “let’s roll” before moving against the hijackers.

Landscape architect James Mealey said Thursday it may take 40 years before visitors see the fully mature trees, according to the Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown.

Mealey said one issue had been a rushed effort to get the project done. Problems have been attributed to poor soil quality, tree species that did not thrive in conditions at the reclaimed coal strip mine, low quality nursery stock, inadequate irrigation, harsh winters, hungry deer and limited maintenance capacity.

“Obviously, that won’t mean that we’re planting the last trees in 40 years, but that’s sort of how long it takes to establish a landscape of this scale and this complexity,” Mealey said. “In terms of the actual, like, replanting, that would take place over the next decade, maybe even into two decades.”

About 2,000 native deciduous trees of various types were planted at the memorial from 2012 to 2016, a key feature of the park’s landscape design. The first tree replanting may take place next spring. Money is being raised to pay for the tree revitalization effort.

Nearly 3,000 people died in the Sept. 11 attacks, when terrorists seized control of four planes. Two were flown into the World Trade Center skyscrapers in New York and the fourth into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.