Loading...
1. Urban Forestry DistrictThe Future of Kalispell's Urban Forest Will Our Next Generation Have It "Made in the Shade?" INTRODUCTION Trees that grow along streets, in parks, cemeteries, school grounds, and green belts and on other public and privately owned lands constitute a "community forest." We have forgotten that community forests of the west were created, not found and that these forests, just like natural forests, must be renewed if we are to enjoy the benefits they provide. Trees make a world of difference in Kalispell. Trees have long been recognized for the beauty and value they lend to our homes, neighborhoods, parks, and business areas. At the same time, those trees conserve energy, help clean air, protect our rivers and streams, and provide a home for wildlife in our community. As stated previously, pioneer settlers and succeeding generations planted our community forest. However, they did not provide for a means of growth and removal. An effective community forestry program is an ongoing process, a program of planting and care that continues through the years. The following document outlines a means of planning and preparation to provide longevity, renewal, and growth to Kalispell's community forestry program. Page 1 of 16 "IT'S A NATURAL, EQUATION: HEALTHY TREES = HEALTHY COMMUNITY" WHAT IS AN URBAN FOREST? When people think of their forests, they habitually look to the slopes above the Flathead Valley. Yet, we have an urban forest right here in Kalispell proper. The urban forest consists of trees and woody vegetation on public right-of-ways, parklands, conservation lands, private yards, commercial property and any where trees impact our lives in the Flathead Valley. Just as the Forest Service or Plum Creek must manage their forest resources, so too must we manage our urban forest resource. WHY ARE TREES IMPORTANT? Trees are a precious resource that must be managed to provide the greatest benefit. In an urban setting, trees provide value in the form of visual and noise buffers, summer cooling and winter solar heat, wind screens, air and ground water filters, protective barriers, and most of all, livable community. According to the Council on Tree and Landscape Appraisers (CTLA), Kalispell, public street trees are an asset worth in excess of $ I5 Million Dollars.' Trees are a dynamic organism and one of the few City resources that actually appreciate in value over time. Trees are on the job 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. How much do you think a tree's unceasing efforts might be worth? A single tree with the average life expectancy of 50 years produces a benefit of $273.00 per year.' The breakdown is as follows: Air conditioning $ 73.00 Erosion and Storm Water Control 75.00 Wildlife shelter 75.00 Air pollution control 50.00 Total $273.00 Over a 50 year period, this single tree will provide a (5% compounded) dollar -value of 'This value is calculated using the "trunk formula method," Guide for Plant Appraisal, Council on Tree and Landscape Appraisers, 1993. P12. 'Moll & Young, 1982. Growing Greener Cities. Living Planet Press & American Forests, Pate 2 of 16 $57,151.3 A street tree population of 5,000 trees calculates into $285 million of benefit over a 50 year period. Below is their benefit breakdown. Clean Air. Trees are proven producers of oxygen, a necessary element of our very survival. Trees appreciably reduce carbon dioxide and other pollutants in the air. The average street tree in Kalispell consumes 26 lbs. (Or 2.5 tons/acre) of pollutants out of the air each year.' In addition, trees play an important role in the hydro logic cycle, transpiring considerable amounts of water daily. Thus, precipitating dust and other pollutants from the air. The National Arbor Day Foundation has found that an average tree that lives for 50 years not only controls air pollution, but also generates ` 30 000" worth of oxygen.' 2. Clean Water. Trees play an integral role in neutralizing waste water which passes from the surface to lower ground water aquifers. Trees, through their root stems, stabilize the soil and play an important and effective part in city-wide soil conservation, erosion control, and flood control. 3. Comfort. Trees are an essential component of the physical structure of the city, making life more comfortable by providing shade and cooling of both the air and land, reducing noise levels and glare, and shading us from harmful UV radiation. Trees, through their shade and transpiration, provide a natural, low -tech cooling system. This, in turn, means less need to build dams, coal bunting plants and nuclear generators. 4. Aesthetics and Economics. Trees are an important part of the beauty of our city, breaking the visual monotony of residential and commercial structures and providing seasonal diversity. Tree City USA Bulletin # 21 also states: Three well placed trees can reduce energy costs by 15% and can add 10-20% to the value of your property." Trees add beauty and grace to any community setting. They make life more enjoyable and offer a rich inheritance for future generations. WHAT DOES KALISPELL'S URBAN FOREST LOOK LIKEN In 1990-91 the City inventoried 5,149 trees along our city streets. Our street trees are comprised of an amazing 48 different species and specie cultivars. There is also an estimated 3,153 vacant tree locations and over 2,500 trees for which the city is responsible for on our conservation easements, greenbelts, undeveloped park lands, river corridors and developed P12. 'Moll & Young, 1982. Growing Greener Cities, Living Planet Press & American Forests, 4,'Tree City USA Bulletin," National Arbor Day Foundation, # 21. '"Tree City USA Bulletin," National Arbor Day Foundation, # 21. Paae 3 of 16 parklands. Trees in excellent and good condition are providing a maximum amount of benefit to the community. Dead, poor and very poor condition trees represent not only the loss of our urban forest, but constitute a real liability for injury and property damage. Lack of a long term, comprehensive management program will take its toll. WHAT HAVE WE ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR? In the past eight years, since 1991, the City has removed in excess of 200 trees, or an average of 26 trees a year•, verses planting in excess of 700 trees, or an average of 84 trees a year. Although records are incomplete, the City has periodically inventoried and cared for the Kalispell Street Trees back to the early 1900's. Inventories were completed in 1928, 1980, and 1991. Park maintenance crews have routinely performed maintenance on our boulevard trees since 1986. The majority of tree maintenance has been dealing with homeowner generated pruning requests, amounting to 6-8% of the street trees being pruned per year. Results of unequal growth between the City's natural resource and the funding to maintain it has caused a tremendous load on very limited resources. The beginnings of a tree maintenance crew was created in 1987, with an exclusive Urban Forestry budget being accepted 10 years later in 1997. The current budget is a proactive management action which has assisted the tree maintenance unit to concentrate on hazard removals, reactive hazard pruning, maintenance pruning and limited replacement of trees. Urban trees need consistent, proactive management to maintain or increase their much needed benefits. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE? Many of the Kalispell trees are past their "prime." Our much cherished maple trees 2,557/49% of the urban forest has a mean height of 40' and mean age of 50 years. Research has reflected that Norway Maples in street side plantings have begun declining in some areas after only 43 years of age. For the last 2 years the City's urban forest management plan has centered around the following 5 major objectives. 1. Commit to a strict hazard reduction program for dead and dying trees each year. 2. Commit to a strict replacement program for previously removed trees and for potential tree planting spaces. Priority will be given to areas with previously removed trees and to neighborhoods with few or no trees. 3. Create a program for a 7-year pruning cycle for all public trees (greater than 5 inches in diameter). All trees less than 5 inches diameter will be trained annually. 4. Continue development of an in-house tree maintenance unit specifically for the management of public trees. This includes addressing a strict removal/replacement policy, Paae 4 of 16 completing early developmental training for all trees less than 5 inches diameter, establishment of 60-100 new trees per year and to systematically maintain all trees on streets, public parklands, and conservation lands. 5. Advise individual property owners with selection and location of trees and assist them with compliance with the street tree and boulevard maintenance ordinances. Integrate alternative funding for tree planting such as cost -share programs, memorial trees and recycling projects. This level of program involves an extensive information and education campaign, but would include planting, watering, proactive pruning, soil aeration, fertilization, cabling/bracing, control of insects and other pathogens, and a strict removal and replacement program We have an incredible investment in our trees that provides a quality of life that is rich in history, culture, social cohesiveness, and aesthetics that is lost in many communities around the world. These trees are planted in a very hostile environment and their preservation is of the utmost importance in order to keep them. In the future I would recommend that we combine related maintenance tasks into the urban tree district. Potentially we could fund leaf pickup, composting, and pesticide control as related maintenance tasks to the boulevard trees (relieving or reimbursing Public Work's Department of these labor intensive tasks). PROPOSED URBAN FORESTRY DISTRICT. Our resource has been inventoried and management strategies have been developed. Now we must secure funding to provide a comprehensive management scheme for the entire resource. The Montana State Codes Annotated permit several options for the planting and protection of trees to supplement existing general fund money. It provides for the establishment of a yearly assessment through a resolution that allows for the maintenance and planting of City right-of-way trees. It is estimated there are = 6,000 residential, commercial and industrial properties within the City limits. A maintenance district similar to Bozeman or Helena's would produce the required dollars to fund the Urban Forestry program for Kalispell. A tree maintenance district can be set up in a variety of ways. Since a "tree maintenance district" would be created under the authority of Title 7, Chapter 12, Part 41, MCA, the assessment of costs of the district to each benefitted lot or parcel must be done in accordance with the optional methods provided in 7-12-4161 through 7-12-4165 MCA. There are six methods provided in these statutory sections: Assessable area method assessed value method. equal amount method, frontage option, utility service connection method, and off street parking option. Of these six there are only three that are practically viable for tree maintenance district assessments. Page 5 of 16 The City of Bozeman assesses on a square footage rate per assessable property. The City of Helena has opted for the Equal Amount Method. The City of Missoula has proposed an assessment through appraised values, these are resolved annually to actually get the note of assessments. R.ECOti MI ENDATIONS. For Kalispell I would recommend the "equal amount method" to assess the cost equally on all lots and parcels, regardless of size. The facts that support this recommendation are outlined previously as "Benefits" that are experienced by all residents of Kalispell not just the adjacent property owners. Potentially every lot in Kalispell will be assessed and targeted for urban forest potential under this scenario. Presently all lots are benefitting from the existing urban forest. The advantage of this method is that it is simple and easy to implement. Because the average tree maintenance assessment would be about $10 per lot per year, a simple method such as this is easier and cheaper to use over a method that is mathematically more sophisticated. St Nt ARv. Kalispell's Urban Forest is a tremendous asset! It's a resource that is dynamic and long lived with potential to be "renewable." Trees, like any other asset requires a certain amount of care to sustain them for our future. Obviously, Kalispell was blessed with the foresight of our founder's to plant trees along our boulevards and in our Parks. We are eternally grateful for their visions. Establishing a "tree maintenance district," the City will put funding in place to ensure a proactive maintenance and planting program that allows us to preserve and sustain our remaining trees, and begin planting our new forest for the next generation. Hopefully, the choice is an easy one. Note: I have included the following draft resolutions that would be required to establish a tree district in Kalispell. They have been previously reviewed by the City Attorney's office. Enclosures: Resolutions Budget F.Y. 1999-2000 Page 6 of 16 URBAN FORESTRY PROGRAM BUDGET SCENARIO A Components: — Pruning, planting, removal, hazard control — Branch pickup, storm damage, Christmas tree recycle — Salaries, O&& M (F.Y. 2000 level) Salaries - $50,688.00 Overtime - $ 1,000.00 Operations & Maintenance - $ 6,025.00 Capital - $ -0- Total Budget: $57,713.00 = 6,200 Assessment: $9.30 per parcel (.77c per month) Components: — Pruning, planting, removal, hazard control, — Branch pickup, storm damage — salaries, O & M, capital Equipment Additions: — Salaries - %2 time ground person — Leaf pickup (6 laborers ) — Capital Equipment - Boom Truck - Stumper Salaries - existing $5008.00 Overtime - existing $ 1,000.00 Leaf pickup $12,086.00 Half time ground person $10,450.00 Subtotal: Operations & Maintenance: $11,812.00 Capital Equipment: Boom Truck %2 cost Traffic Signs & Signals $17,500.00 Stumper 13,000.00 Subtotal: $30,500.00 (intercap loan 7 years) Total Budget : • 574,224.00 511,812.00 592,036.00 _ 6,200 Assessment: S14.84 per parcel - 51.23 a month