[CANUFNET] Mature tree retention

Thu Aug 23 12:05:04 EDT 2018

Hello Andrew.
Many thanks for addressing the question. We do have such a scenario where the trees were of such size, and were to remain . But as you stated the efforts were too little to late. A third party consultant was brought in to suggest recourse (apparently to know avail).
I have been watching most of these large Sugar maples( approx. 25 trees, diameters between 60-120cm) begin a decline spiral over the last two years(those that were spared the immediate removal).
Sadly, City’s need the developers money and can end up complicit in the process. These have been my repeated experiences.
The sad truth is the developers want the community to be a success and the city too wants success, but no one is willing to pay or plan for it.
One more cook in the kitchen is usually not welcome in an already complicated agenda (especially in cities that that still have farmers fields that can be developed, and had already made these fiscal decisions years ago). I find some things changing slowly, and reluctantly in this already demanding municipal environment.
In the instance I was referring to, the side walk also played a significant role. A floating side walk could have been one of the options, but the costs ended up “prohibitive”.
Meandering sidewalks, and structural soil were also discussed.
Even when an agreed upon solution is arrived at, there is still the issue of implementation. Typically the constructors on site do not understand the issues related to construction around trees, and therefore have no way or interest in advocating for them  or tending to them. Especially when considering the time frame trees work in (the contractors are long gone when the trees succumb to the new mechanical or ecological changes as you already know). Keeping a Urban forester on site for duration of construction should vastly improve outcome (if possible).
Not sure if this is helpful, but many thanks for bringing attention to the matter. I look forward to the discussion again. I can supply pictures and better time frames if desired?
James Urban may be one of the people on the forefront of these solutions. I would be curious as to what his suggestions may afford you?
 Again, many thanks for the discussion Andrew. Let me know if I can be of assistance in the future.

John Hennessy
I.S.A. Certified Municipal Specialist ON 1193-A.
City of Brampton
Forestry Technician.

From: CANUFNET [mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of Andrew Boyd via CANUFNET
Sent: 2018/08/22 1:36 PM
To: Canadian Urban Forest Network <canufnet at list.web.net>
Subject: Re: [CANUFNET] Mature tree retention

I suspect this situation is all too frequent for some members of this forum: an infill development is given municipal approval on the basis of an insufficient analysis of mature tree retention.  When upon closer scrutiny this analysis is found to be lacking the role of the consulting arborist (brought in at the 11th hour) is essentially to fit a square peg into a round hole.  In short, and without getting into too many specifics, has anyone had experience building a road over the roots of two mature sugar maples – 80-100 cm dbh (distance of road from base of trees is 1.2m!).  And, yes, the trees must remain.  I’m sure many of you can relate to my frustration.
Thank you.

Andrew K. Boyd, R.P.F.
Consulting Urban Forester
IFS Associates Inc.
P.O. Box 13593
Ottawa, ON
K2K 1X6
Tel: 613-839-0101
www.ifsassociates.ca<http://www.ifsassociates.ca/>
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