City Trees

due to the power outages, which caused traffic mayhem due to the nonfunctioning streetlights. Upon arrival at the parks, we would meet with local park staff, who were some of the most wonderful people we met on our journey. We surveyed the entirety of both large parks, per- forming level 2 inspections on every tree, based off of ISA methodology. From our observations, we very quickly came to realize that almost every tree needed attention of some sort: either prun- ing or removal. Most of the trees we encoun- tered were heavily damaged by the Hurricane. As we worked, we had to recalibrate the decisions and assessments we were accustomed to making in NYC. Being foresters working in a temperate urban environment, we are keenly aware of our aging tree population, and how it responds to different weather events. We quickly identified that, although the trees were heavily damaged by the Hurricane Maria, many could remain due to the tropical climate that allows the trees to regenerate foliage and respond at a faster rate than in a temperate climate. Similar dam- age to trees in New York City might require removal. We would sweat it out in hot and humid condi- tions, and take a break for lunch, which wasn't always the easiest to figure out. Due to the extensive power outages, only a select number of restaurants were able to serve food with the help of generators. In the afternoon, we would return to the parks to continue our inspections. We were working in the parks while they were still closed to the public due to the safety haz- ards of downed and hanging limbs and immense amounts of debris covering practically every square inch of the park. The population of igua- nas seemed to take advantage of the peace and quiet, and we had to take care not to surprise the reptiles while sounding the trees. We definitely gave a few quite a fright, as they did us. We would work until dusk, when we would rejoin the rest of our team, who were stationed at a local sports arena, the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, for an end-of-day briefing. We would then return to our hotel, seek out some dinner, and crash hard! How did you manage the mental stress of seeing so much devastation? JE and BC: Being around local Puerto Ricans and seeing how high their spirits were, even after their island was devastated by a hurricane, was the biggest morale lift for us. It was certainly dif- ficult to see all of the destruction and hardships that the locals were dealing with, but their posi- tive attitudes made us hopeful that the island will recover. We have nothing but the highest regard www.urban-forestry.com 29 >>

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