Council OKs Work Group to Advise City on Trees

Spurred in part by “haphazard” trimming that shears the tops off trees, the City Council voted Tuesday to establish a work group to coordinate urban forestry programs throughout city agencies.

Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, whose Environmental Quality and Waste Management Committee reviewed the city’s tree maintenance, said she found numerous examples of city trees that had been topped or cut inappropriately, sometimes causing the death of the trees.

Part of the problem, she said, was that multiple agencies were responsible for maintaining the city’s 1.9 million trees. The work group will attempt a more comprehensive approach.

“There are very, very haphazard indications of care being given to our trees,” Miscikowski said.

Several environmentalists also addressed the council, some urging the city to hire a consultant to help maintain its urban forest. Others complained about poor pruning jobs they said the city had done.

Even Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg chipped in a tree-topping story of her own, describing a neighborhood that was “speechless” and “aghast” to find its trees had been savagely trimmed.

The Sustainable Urban Forest Workgroup will coordinate forestry work among city departments and give quarterly reports to the council.

One of its main jobs will be to help create a position for an “urban forester,” someone to oversee the city’s tree care.

Miscikowski called the program “Tree CPR,” which stands for “care, planting and replacement” of the city’s trees.