City staff look to tap the value of Toronto’s trees
Toronto’s urban forest could be a natural resource, advocates say; instead we see tree removal as waste disposal

theStar.com
July 8, 2014
Brian Platt

When last summer’s big rainstorm floated a 6-metre willow tree into a flooded Etobicoke backyard, Andrew Baughn was hired to remove it. While the homeowner thought he just had an expensive problem to fix, Baughn told him the stormy waters had delivered a valuable commodity.

Baughn uses a “mobile sawmill,” a chainsaw attachment that allows him to mill trees on site and salvage much of the wood. In this case, Baughn saw that the willow tree’s burls — dense growths on the trunk — could be sold for a tidy sum to local woodworkers.

The homeowner sold the burls on the free classified site Kijiji and recovered most of the tree removal expense, Baughn said.

“People don’t see trees as having any value once they’ve come down,” he said. But his company, Eco Tree Company, specializes in salvaging urban trees so they can be made into cabinets, tables, chairs and nearly any other kind of wood product.

“When I look at a dead tree ... most people think the bark’s falling off, the wood’s going to be terrible, but you don’t know that until you cut into it,” he said. “I can often see the potential of a tree just by looking at it.”

Private property tree removal is expensive, with each job easily costing $3,000 or more. An urban wood industry report coming to city council on Tuesday estimates GTA property owners spend $100 to $200 million annually on removing and disposing of trees.

For all the money spent on cutting them down, city trees are often ground down into nearly worthless chips.

“Right now, when a tree comes down it’s simply considered waste,” said Rob McMonagle, the city’s lead staff on its wood industry development initiative. “We’re trying to change that whole process, to say it should be considered a natural resource.”

Unlocking the value in the GTA’s ten million treescomes in two forms, each with its own challenges. About 40 per cent of the trees are on municipal property, mostly along streets and in parks. They’re removed as quickly and safely as possible, resulting in small chunks that aren’t suitable as lumber.

McMonagle said city staff are searching for ways to reuse that wood in city projects, reducing both disposal and material acquisition costs. “The City of Ottawa is a good example, as they’re using a lot of the ash trees killed off by the emerald ash borer for flooring in their new transit stations,” he said.

Trees on private property are another matter. They’re usually in trickier locations that make them much more expensive to remove. Private firms also often pay to dump the trees in municipal waste sites, passing the cost on to customers.

The city report calls for more steps to encourage homeowners to find creative tree disposal options. LEAF, a non-profit organization advocating “responsible stewardship of the urban forest,” is partnering with the city on the initiative.

“We’re trying to facilitate the communication among service providers, because there’s several different components to it,” said Janet McKay, LEAF’s executive director. “Not every arborist is going to suggest, ‘Oh, you could do something different with this wood.’”

The city and LEAF compiled a list of companies that can salvage urban trees and printed brochures for homeowners. LEAF also organizes “urban wood utilization” walks that point out various species of trees and what can be made from them. Later in July, Baughn will be helping lead one through Trinity Bellwoods Park.

Baughn said nearly every tree he comes across has some kind of value; the homeowner just needs to know the options. “Most large yard trees have the potential to be turned into whatever the customer can dream up.”