City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/36513
Area Tree Maintenance Program We are into our third year of implementing a proac- tive tree maintenance program. Since 2009, Toronto City Council has invested new funding to allow us to transition from providing reactive (complaint-based) tree maintenance service to a service delivery model that is proactive and planned. Proactive tree maintenance has been proven to be more efficient and effective in a num- ber of ways. Under this program we prune City-owned trees on all streets within pre-defined areas. Trees receive maintenance that encourages tree health, natural form, and maintains structural integrity. We also take the opportunity to clear streetlights and road signs and lift tree canopies to provide clear sightlines. Area maintenance reduces the non-productive travel time and fuel costs. As a result, we are able to increase the number of trees we maintain each year by more than 50% because of increased crew productivity. The area maintenance program results in well maintained trees, reduced risk of tree failures, and overall improved customer service. Our Urban Forest Asset Management Plan currently outlines the transition from reactive tree maintenance to proactive maintenance with the target objective of a seven-year-average pruning cycle for mature, established trees and with additional mainte- nance on newly planted trees at two and five years after planting. As the program continues to be implemented we anticipate that complaint-based requests for service could be reduced by 40-50%. Spread of EAB We have many good news stories to share; Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is unfortunately not one of them. Since September 2003 the City of Toronto has had a mora- torium on the planting of ash trees in anticipation that EAB might spread to the City. EAB was first detected in Toronto in 2007, and since that time we have worked with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the Canadian Forest Service (CFS), and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) to conduct surveys, study the infestation, and develop early detection protocols. Ash tree mortality surveys have identified that approximately 1,350 ash street trees will need to be removed in 2011. We have an estimated 32,400 ash trees on our streets; Toronto has 860,000 ash trees if you include parks and private lands. We expect that neighbourhoods that are currently infested will lose most of their ash trees within two years and that most of the ash trees in the City will die within seven years. If there can be any good news regarding EAB in Toronto, it is our ability to coordinate our programs to respond to the situation. Forest health care monitoring of EAB is viewable on the mapping used by our operational staff in implementing our proactive street tree mainte- nance program. Mapping helps our staff to see where www.urban-forestry.com Toronto, Canada Quick Facts Human Population ........................ 2.4 million Tree Population ........................... 10.2 million Street Tree Population .......................600,000 Park Tree Population ..................... 3.5 million Trees on Private Property ............. 6.1 million Urban Forest Structural Value ........ $7 billion Continuous soil trenches are being implemented in many new development areas in Toronto. Autumn Blaze maples (Acer fremanii ‘Autumn Blaze’) are thriv- ing in a sidewalk constructed with continuous soil trenches on Toronto’s Bathurst Street. 11