Preserving the Urban Tree Canopy

Bradfordtimes.ca
Nov. 12, 2015
By Miriam King

“Our health and well-being are intricately interconnected with the health of our natural environment. Trees and forests are integral components of healthy ecosystems that support healthy human populations.” - Ontario Urban Forest Council.

Trees within urban settings combat pollution, cool the urban “heat island”, provide wildlife habitat, and add to both esthetics and property values - and a recent Urban Tree inventory in Bradford assigned a value of over $8.8 million to the Town's boulevard trees.

Urban Forest Innovations was hired this summer to conduct an inventory of 5,000 of the trees that line Bradford's streets and boulevards - looking at the diversity and general health of the urban tree canopy, and recommending actions for improved maintenance.

It's the first step in developing a multi-year Urban Forestry Management Plan, especially needed in the wake of the devastation caused by Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) - an invasive species from Asia, that has killed tens of millions of ash trees in Ontario since it was first detected in 2002.

The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury was pro-active; once the borer was confirmed in adjacent York Region, the municipality identified medium and large trees on Town property that were worth treating with TreeAzin, and set aside $50,000 per year for EAB management.

The 2015 inventory found that 7% of plantings along the boulevards surveyed are ash, and vulnerable to EAB, posing an ongoing burden. A total of 300 dead trees of all species were identified, requiring removal and replacement - 200 of which are being replaced this year.

Fifty-nine different tree species were identified by Urban Forest Innovations, which suggests a diverse canopy. Unfortunately, 29.8% of the trees belonged to a single species: Norway Maple, which is not native.

In fact, when the company looked at “Genus” rather than species, maples accounted for 50% of the urban tree cover; Linden 7.5%, Honey Locust 7%, Spruce 4%, Apple and Pear 6%.

One of the recommendations of the report is to diversify - planting a wider variety of species, including Tulip Tree, Hackberry and Oak, along Bradford's streets, and to stop planting Norway Maples immediately.

The inventory also looked at the health of the trees, and found that while the majority are in “good overall condition,” a total of 1,717 trees were identified as needing maintenance, ranging from mulching, to pruning, reducing the canopy, and even tree removal. Many of those identified are the Town's larger trees, well worth preserving, the report noted.

One hundred and ninety-two trees were found to be in “conflict” with overhead wires, 90 trees were identified as “high risk” or “very high risk” - and a total of 278 trees were tagged for removal.

There is a hefty price tag attached to the recommendations. The cost of following through for all 1,717 trees is estimated at between $418,000 and $669,000.

Currently, Bradford West Gwillimbury's tree budget for 2016 is $100,000.

The report to Council recommended completing the tree inventory in 2016, both along the boulevards and in municipal parks, at a cost of $75,000 - which would leave only $25,000 for maintenance. The Town was also urged to top up the budget by an additional $200,000, spending $300,000 per year for the next 3 years, to establish the Forestry Management Plan and carry out the most needed maintenance.

Council received the report on November 3.

“It's a wonderful report, once of the best I've ever seen,” said Councillor Gary Lamb.

Councillor Raj Sandhu agreed. “I never thought I would enjoy reading something about trees, but I did.” He urged the Town to begin incorporating the recommendations in talks with developers planning new subdivisions.

Terry Foran, Director of Community Services, noted that the $50,000 budgeted last year “didn't get us far, particularly when the EAB came in.” It was only the allocation of additional funding, to tree-planting and sidewalk repairs, that allowed the Town to proceed with the inventory and tree replacement.

And as the Town catches up on maintenance needs, Foran said, “We're going to need additional funding, moving forward.”

The request was referred to budget deliberations. “That's when the rubber hits the pavement,” said Deputy Mayor James Leduc.

In the first round of budget talks, on November 12, Council recommended cutting the request for additional funding by 50%, tentatively agreeing to add $100,000 to the Tree maintenance budget, to come from the Special Capital Levy.