Untitled Document

Woodland looks to build an urban forest plan
By ALDRICH TAN/Democrat Correspondent

February 1, 2006

A lone elm tree on Elm Street between Pendegast and Cross streets is one of more than 6,500 urban trees helping Woodland maintain its reputation as "City of Trees."

But when the leaves fall off, the tree's distorted branches tell a different story. Twenty-five years ago, tree trimmers pruned the tree as if it were a hedge. Weaker branches sprouted from the cuts, causing the tree to look more like an upside-down vase than a protective umbrella.

"Those new clusters of branches are weak and individual branches can break off," said Ken Trott, founding board member of the Woodland Tree Foundation. "The cuts place the tree at a higher risk for tree rot and are hazardous to the public."

This elm tree is one of many faltering in Woodland. But through a countywide urban forestry initiative, Woodland's Department of Parks, Recreation and Community services has launched a request for proposals to help construct a city urban forest plan.

The request for proposals is available at the department's office, park planner Kent Perkes said.

"We're hoping to phase development of the urban master plan to get some of the immediate issues regarding Woodland's urban forestry taken care of this year," he said.

In the older parts of Woodland, large hackberry trees located in the older downtown area aren't doing so well, Trott said. Aphids infect the trees and produce sticky syrupy substances which drip on the sidewalk and turn it black.

To deal with the aphid situation, the city's tree trimmers inject a pesticide called Merit into the soil once a year at $35 per tree, said Matt Patton, Woodland's senior tree trimmer through the Department of Public Works.

"There is enough city revenue to completely maintain the older trees in the newer parts of Woodland," he said. "And in the older parts, We're holding out on our own."

New development and housing projects will be bringing more than 7,000 new trees for the city of Woodland to maintain, Patton said.

The choices for replacement trees are also getting smaller, Trott said. According to Patton, the city's official tree list currently has 38 possible varieties available to the city. The city takes trees off the official list, such as the Modesto ash, based on adaptability to Woodland's conditions.

"We should be planting a greater variety of trees have active replacements as our tree canopy gets older and older," Trott said.

The master plan will be important for the city to quantify the trees and quantify the value for the city's trees, park manager Perkes said. The city plans to provide the public with a comprehensive report on the economic and social values of the urban forests in Woodland.

The master plan part of the city's implementation of the regional Greenprint Initiative, which the City Council accepted last September, Perkes said.

Benefits of urban forests include reducing production of ground level ozone, providing shade, improving water quality by filtering pollutants, and saving on energy costs and businesses by reducing need for air conditioning and heat, Gallipi said.