Townsend 5-Year Tree Care and Maintenance Plan 2011-2012 Fiscal Year through 2016-2017 Fiscal Year and Progress to Date

The 2011 PDG grant was used to complete an updated Townsend Tree Inventory. Tree inventories were also completed in 1990 and 2005. The older inventories showed the majority of Townsend public trees to be dominated by two to three species, to be largely in poor to fair condition, and to be mature specimens planted many years ago. The new 2011 tree inventory showed that significant progress had been made in improving the community forest. The 2005 tree inventory was used to guide tree pruning and removals in the 2006-2011 5-year Townsend public tree care and maintenance plan.

The City Council approved a Tree Board budget of up to $20,000 since 2006 to ensure the pruning and removal work was completed and to ensure that many new, young, and more diverse tree species were planted. The last 5-year tree care and maintenance plan expired on June 30, 2011. The City Council and Broadwater County Commissioners are very happy with the progress made on reducing the City’s liability from mature undesirable tree species and the almost 500 new trees planted on the highway corridors through town, in City Parks, and at Broadwater High School (BHS), the County Courthouse, the County Fairgrounds, the Old Baldy Golf Course, and along residential streets.

The Tree Board prepared a 2011/2012 to 2016/2017 5-year tree care and maintenance plan which was approved by the City Council in Spring 2011. The Tree Board prepared a final report on the 2011 Tree Inventory and a revised 5-year tree care and maintenance plan based on results of the inventory which was approved by the City Council. The Tree Board’s plan created a work plan that would guide the City Council to develop and maintain a sustainable urban forestry program for as little money as possible. Grants such as PD Grants stretch small town Tree Board dollars.

Sustainable Urban Forestry Recommendations and Progress to Date

Short Term

  • Immediately address the one tree that was identified as a critical concern (Done) and then the 150 trees that require immediate attention in the next 5-year tree care and maintenance plan (first year plan ongoing).
  • Of the 150 trees that require immediate attention,95 or 63 percent are considered small. These are trees that the Tree Board or city staff could take care of in the next five-year tree care and maintenance plan without hiring a professional tree service (pruning to be completed after tree planting in Spring 2012).
  • Address the remaining 65or 37 percent of the large trees that require or would benefit from immediate pruning or removal in the next 5-year tree care and maintenance plan(Inventory to begin July 1, 2012).
  • Once the trees needing immediate attention are taken care of then we will begin tackling the remaining trees containing large amounts of deadwood.
  • Maintain the level of Arbor Day/Arbor Weekendactivities each year. Arbor Day is a great community event in Townsend. The events often involve up to 10 percent of the total population and Arbor Day/Arbor Weekend is something in which the public takes pride. (Done in 2012)
  • Continue to develop an annual work plan for tree maintenance and planting each year(to be submitted to City Council with budget request before June 30, 2012).
  • Continue to develop goals at the beginning of each year for the Tree Board to accomplish in the coming year.
  • Have the Tree Board and City maintenance crewcontinue to prune or remove small, manageable trees around the city in the next five year tree care and maintenance plan. From the inventory, 394 or 39 percent of the trees were less thanthree inches in diameter. These are trees that a person could manage pruning with a hand pruners and ladder or pole saw. Many of the 183 or 18 percent of the trees from 3-6 inches in diameter can also be pruned with hand tools from the ground or on a ladder (Pruning to begin in earnest after spring tree planting completed July 1).
  • Send Tree Board members and City staff to tree maintenance training whenever possible(Tree Board members attended Kalispell and Worland Tree Board Retreats, Tree Risk workshop in Helena, Tree Board member in AMTOPP) (See attached documentation).
  • Develop a pruning rotation of public trees where a certain number of trees are pruned each year and are all pruned every fifteen years.
  • Develop a cooperative tree pruning program with Northwestern Energy to prune under utility lines in Townsend on a five-year rotation. Initial contacts have been made and the first phase completed in Fall 2011 and second phase proposed for Summer 2012.
  • Continue to plant 35-50 new trees each year to increase the diversity of the community forest and to replace the small undesirable tree species identified for removal in the 2011 inventory (Done).
  • Stop planting green ash and other ash varieties until the percentage of green ash in the community forest is below 10 percent and the percent of all ash trees is less than 20% (Planted minimal numbers of green ash and white ash in 2012).
  • Stop planting the red leaf chokecherry varieties and replace them with non-suckering European bird cherry and other red leaf varieties that don’t sucker (Done in 2012).
  • Continue removing new Siberian elm, green ash, and boxelder seedlings; and cottonwood and white poplar shoots as they are found along city streets, alleys, parks, and other public places (To begin in July 2012).

Long Term

  • Continue to develop a yearly budget for Townsend’s tree program. A good rule of thumb is to invest 10 percent of the total trees value back into the community forest. This would greatly help protect the investment and reduce maintenance costs down the road. Since Townsend’s trees are worth almost 2.5million dollars, this goal would mean investingup to $250,000 per year back into the maintenance of the trees. This level of funding for maintenance is not going to happen in Townsend or most Montana small communities. Fortunately, in Townsend over the last five-year tree care and maintenance plan, much of the investment in the community forest was in the form of volunteer labor and use of City maintenance crew equipment and personnel for tree work. The City of Townsend has been investing up to $24,250 in cash, equipment, and labor in the last 5-year tree care and maintenance plan. The Tree Board and other volunteers have worked many hundreds of volunteer hours planting, pruning, and removing trees. Grants have stretched limited City and County funding. Continue applying for grants to stretch local budgets (Got $750 Arbor Day and $2,500 PD Grant from DNRC).
  • Continue planting trees to diversify tree species around Townsend staying away from green ash. With hundreds of planting sites, there are plenty of opportunities to plant trees around Townsend (> 50planted in 2012).
  • In five-years, the remaining 290 or 29 percent of large trees identified as needing routine pruning in 2011 should be evaluated by a certified arborist (To begin after July 1).

Recommended Conceptual 5-year Work Plan

Rest of Fiscal year 2011-2012

Fall

  • Revise and update the approved 5-year tree care and maintenance plan based on the 2011 Tree Inventory results (Done).
  • Apply for a DNRC Program Development grant to provide additional funding for year 1 of the next 5-year Tree Care and Management Plan (Done, Received $2,500).
  • Apply for an Arbor Day and other grants (PPL, Town Pump and other foundations)(Done received $750 Arbor Day Grant).
  • Prune or remove the one tree identified as a critical concern in the 2011 tree inventory (Done).
  • Have a certified arborist evaluate the 55 or five percent of the large trees that were noted as needing or benefiting from immediate attention. Work on these trees would be completed in the first two years of the 5-year plan (First year work on 28 planned for Summer 2012).
  • Continue pruning and/or removal of the 95 or 9 percent of the small trees that require immediate attention (Planned for rest of year 2012).
  • Continue trainingTree Board and city staff on small tree pruning (Plan on attending NorthernRockiesTreeSchool in October 2012).
  • Order 35-50 new trees to replace any trees removed as part of implementing the 2011 tree inventory and to continue improving the diversity of the community forest (Done).
  • Maintain landscaped areas installed as part of Tree Board beautification efforts (Ongoing).
  • Place an article in the local paper summarizing 2011 Tree Board accomplishments (Done in December 2011).

Winter

  • Plan for 2012 Arbor Day celebration and other planting events on Arbor Weekend (Completed)
  • Work to acquire additional funding for tree management (Ongoing)
  • Line out conceptual work plan for the following fiscal year and publish in the local paper (Published in January 2012).
  • Evaluate with Northwestern Energy the 84 trees identified as having utility line conflicts and prioritize the needed pruning//removals in 2012 (To be done in Summer 2012).
  • Evaluate the 31 trees identified as causing sidewalk damage with the City’s municipal insurance agent. Prioritize the tree removals, sidewalk rerouting and/or replacement plans for 2012(To be done in Summer 2012).
  • Prune 67 trees. This would allow for a 15-year pruning cycle (Ongoing).

Spring

  • Celebrate Arbor Day/Arbor Weekend (Done -50 trees planted)
  • Remove any stumps (Done- see contract attached)
  • Plant 35-50 new trees (Done planted >50 trees on public property in Townsend and >40 trees at the local city golf course).
  • Maintain landscaped areas installed as part of Tree Board beautification efforts (Ongoing).
  • Remove new small trees volunteering around town as they are noted (Ongoing).

Fiscal years 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2014/2015, and 2015/2016

Summer

  • Prune 67 trees. This would create a 15 year pruning cycle.
  • Maintain landscaped areas installed as part of Tree Board beautification efforts.
  • Remove new small trees volunteering around town as they are noted.

Fall

  • Apply for grants.

Winter

  • Publish current year Tree Board accomplishments in the local paper
  • Plan for Arbor Day/Arbor Weekend celebration
  • Develop conceptual work plan for the coming year and publish in the local paper.
  • Plan tree planting for spring and order at least 35-50 new trees.
  • Identify yearly plans for the rest of the 84 trees identified as having utility line conflicts and prioritize the needed pruning//removals.
  • Identify yearly plans for the rest of the 31 trees identified as causing sidewalk damage with the City’s municipal insurance agent. Prioritize the tree removals, sidewalk rerouting and/or replacement plans for each year.

Spring

  • Celebrate Arbor Day/Arbor Weekend
  • Remove stumps
  • Plant at least 35-50 trees of different varieties

Fiscal year 2016/2017

Summer

  • Re-inventory trees if needed
  • Evaluate and modify program if there is a need
  • Develop a new 5-year tree care and maintenance plan

The new 2011 tree inventory has been used to guide tree pruning, removals, and to develop treatment plans to improve overall community forest health. The inventory is also used to identify future priority tree planting sites. The new 5-year plan calls for pruning and removal of 150 trees identified as needing removal and immediate attention. The rest of the trees would be pruned on a 15-year cycle. Without the UCF PDG grant it would be hard for Townsend (and other small communities) to complete the planned work. The Tree Board had a budget of $11,500 for fiscal year 2011/2012. The PD Grant has supplemented pruning, removal, and planting work in 2012 as detailed in the budget. The 2011 tree inventory has been updated as work proceeds.

The 2011 DNRC UCF and MUCFA goals for funding were to maintain updated tree inventories and develop 5-year tree care and maintenance plans. The TownsendPD Grant would meet the federal and state program goals for the UCF funding.