Planting a tree plan
Experts address town forestry issues

By Scott Nicholson

The town of Boone explored a forest of possibilities by gathering public input on its proposed Urban Forest Management Plan.

The town held a couple of public-input sessions Wednesday to talk about tree credits, canopy preservation, and land-use regulations. The sessions were led by Skip Kincaid, a project manager with Davey Resource Group, and the town’s Urban Design Specialist Brian Johnson.

Skip Kincaid of Davey Resource Group said the Town of Boone had several options for maintaining its forest canopy. Photo by Scott Nicholson Skip Kincaid of Davey Resource Group and the Town of Boone’s Urban Design Specialist Brian Johnson shared ideas about tree management during public input sessions on Wednesday. Photo by Scott Nicholson

Landscapers and tree-cutting specialists were among those weighing in on the town’s Urban Forest Management Plan, as well as downtown representatives and developers.

Kincaid said flexibility in planning and regulation would probably yield better overall results and best meet the town’s goal of having more trees in the town.

“The more detailed, the more restrictive, the more specifications you put in the ordinance, not only is it harder for people to deal with it, but you end up with uncreative construction plans,” Kincaid said. “So what you do is write the ordinance to fit the goals. What I’m hearing here is to maintain the existing canopy or maybe even increase the canopy in the town.”

Kincaid said tree sizes and location could be varied to best fit each property, and he suggested developers could even trade “tree credits” that allowed them to remove more trees from a property while agreeing to replace them on public lands.

“Folks don’t won’t to cut down trees if they have to pay a lot of money for it, so they’re going to minimize their tree loss. If they still end up having to remove some trees...they’re going to have to replace them, either on site, or somewhere else, or by paying money to the town so trees can be planted on streets or parks. The hope is you maintain the canopy by giving up some in some areas and putting it back somewhere else.”

He said towns with tree ordinances handled them in different ways. Some called for one-to-one replacement while others placed differing values on different types and sizes of trees. The relative value of trees varies depending upon each local government, with some ordinances counting smaller tree sizes with others starting at one foot in diameter and up. The type of terrain could also affect the desirability of certain tree species, Kincaid said.

Credit could also be given for transplanting trees that already existed on the property. Kincaid said educating the public about proper tree care and their benefits could be one approach.

Landscapers said people sometimes wanted a tree topped because they wanted to preserve their view of the mountains, even if it might kill the tree. Johnson said it would be difficult for the town to legislate private homeowners, which is why existing tree guidelines applied mostly to new development.

Kincaid some communities were licensing tree-care specialists, with a staff arborist reviewing credentials of companies that manage or handle trees. That could lead to more consistent policies and practices for tree management.

Disposal of cut trees was one of the concerns cited, particularly in the use of hardwood and keeping wood scraps out of the waste stream. Ideas included making the trees available to those cutting firewood or hauling lumber, though it’s unlikely the town would be involved in hauling.

“The ordinance up to this point did not have an outline for wood waste,” Kincaid said. “Rather than something the town puts into the waste stream, let’s put it to use.”

Johnson said the town was replacing its own trees, developing a new streetscape plan. Johnson said some people wanted “over-story” trees with lots of foliage while others wanted attractively flowering trees in the downtown area. Johnson said one option was to replace existing Bradford pears with a variety of trees.“It’s going to be a big visual impact to replace all those trees at one time,” Johnson said. “It should have been thought about years ago.”

Kincaid said the larger goal was not only to preserve trees, but to maintain a healthy diversity in case a blight or insect infestation struck a particular species. The woolly adelgid has struck hemlocks on the East Coast and the Southern pine beetle has damaged other species.

Generating funds through tree fees, grant sources, utility companies, or other means was one way to pay for new trees, but Kincaid said the best option was to replace trees on the site of the property under development. Another possibility would be trading credits, where developers could plant required trees on other properties or even town property. Kincaid said paying a fee was the least desirable option.

“The goal is to maintain or create new canopy, so it should be done as directly as possible,” Kincaid said. He also suggested that a typical goal for a municipality would be to preserve 40 percent of its canopy, though the percentage could vary depending on whether an area was commercial or residential.

Johnson said the town had been reluctant to stress regulation of trees in existing residential areas, but he said that might become necessary if homeowners were creating damage to the town’s overall canopy.

The Urban Forest Management Plan is part of the long-range master plan the town of Boone will continue developing in 2009.