NC Urban Forest Council's
Spring Newsletter 2004

NCUFC offers scholarships to members

The NCUFC has a great opportunity for its membership. We have available scholarships to national conferences related to urban forestry. Some examples include National ISA conference in Pittsburgh in August and the National SMA in Denver in October. These will be full scholarships (up to $1200) and are available for up to 3 people chosen by the Executive Committee's Scholarship Task Force. The following criteria will be used for the selection:

a. 500 word essay stating what conference you’d like to attend, why you would like to attend and how you intend to use information gained;
b. include past/present/future participation in NCUFC;
c. agree to write article for NCUFC newsletter to be published; and
d. must be received NCUFC Executive Secretary Sarah Mitchell by May 1st, 2004.

The essay can be e-mail to NCUFC@aol.com, faxed to 336-774-0215 or mailed to NCUFC, PO Box 25852, Winston-Salem, NC 27104. Winners will be notified by June 1, 2004. All NCUFC members are encouraged to apply. Good luck!

Tree pruning advice for the tree owner
by Bill Hascher, Biltmore Estate

With the arrival of springtime many are beckoned away from the cathode ray tubes to face the outdoors. The focus is turned toward the landscape, with attention to maintenance and beautification of our surroundings through gardening and tree pruning. For some, this may involve thumbing through the yellow pages for “tree service.”

The usual criteria for selecting a quality, reputable tree service company is price, the presence of a certified arborist on staff, reputation and possession of liability and worker’s compensation. In addition to those, I offer the following suggestions to increase the probability that conscientious professionals will carry out tree-care objectives in a tree-friendly manner.

Share these tips with the tree owners you come in contact with. Use simple terms; don’t scare them off with technical jargon. If you help the tree owner, you help the urban forest.

Rule Number 1: Don’t assume that all tree companies know what is best for your trees.

Rule Number 2: It is always good to get more than one opinion. There are many companies whose routine practices are detrimental to the tree. Avoid any tree company that lists TOPPING among their services.

Rule Number 3: Before inviting just anyone with sharp tree cutting tools onto your property to prune your trees, know that pruning tools are destructive and require sophisticated decision-making and handling to achieve pleasing and desirable results. Know that bad pruning is just as permanent as good pruning, but bad pruning can lead to problems that will destroy your trees. It’s better not to have pruned at all than to have pruned badly.

Rule Number 4: Know that arboricultural consultants are ready and waiting to provide an independent and objective opinion regarding the best possible care for your trees. These consultants can be a tremendous help by providing specific information about your trees. Arboricultural consultants can provide for you a solid foundation of useful information that is valuable when interviewing tree company salespeople and deciding who is the best person to prune your trees. For a minimal investment, consultants can also offer a validating opinion so you are confident and comfortable about the tree-care company you have selected.

Rule Number 5: Beware of over-thinning. Over-thinning is the indiscriminate removal of interior branches and foliage. This is common practice for some companies who either don’t know, or choose to ignore, the fact that every leaf manufactures food for the tree. From a tree-health perspective, do not prune interior foliage from the tree under any circumstance. The exception is if this foliage is connected to branches that are conflicting and must be removed to develop good structure, or attached to branches that have inferior attachment to the main stem. Proper thinning retains interior foliage.

Rule Number 6: The tree worker pruning your trees should be willing and able to offer explanation of why living branches are being removed from the tree.

Good pruning removes the minimal amount of material for the maximum effect. Oftentimes, tree workers will remove more than they should to avoid getting a call back from a customer who feels they have not gotten their "money’s worth." I recommend defusing this potentially volatile situation before finalizing the sale through clear communication and discussion of objectives and expectations. Taking the time to select the right person to prune your trees correctly can avert pruning disasters and ensure that your trees’ longevity is maximized.

Mayor Bett Stroud wins national award
by Ginny Russell, NCDFR

It is a great pleasure to present Mayor Bett Stroud as winner of National Arbor Day Foundation’s Lawrence Enersen Award for work at the community level. Recipients are individuals whose life’s work exemplifies commitment to tree planting and conservation in community improvement. Mayor Stroud will receive her award at a special awards ceremony May 1st at the Steinhart Lodge, Arbor Day Farm, Nebraska City, Nebraska.

Mayor Stroud is a graduate of Mars Hill College and has been mayor of Weaverville since 1993. She was the recipient of the "American Hometown Leadership Award" given by the National Center for Small Communities and Wal-Mart Foundation and the "Outstanding Board Service Award" Land of Sky Regional Council, Region B council of Governments 1997.

Mayor Mary "Bett" Stroud

When I became an elected official as a Weaverville Town Commissioner in 1989 and mayor in 1993, I got two of the best jobs in the world because these positions gave me the opportunity to realize my vision for the Town of Weaverville. My vision calls for sustainable growth which means using what we have wisely so that we do not compromise the quality of life for future generations. Sustainable growth includes the amenities of trees, landscaping, sidewalks, greenways, and transportation options.

Trees are an integral part of my vision. When I was elected to the Weaverville Town Council in 1989, many of Weaverville’s old trees were in a state of decline and there was no concerted effort to plant new trees. Planting trees became my mission and has remained so throughout my 14 years of public service.

In 1990, the Weaverville Town Council acted on a plan that I proposed as a Council Member to have the town designated as a Tree City USA. By becoming a Tree City USA, the Town embarked on a program to plant and maintain trees and thus to beautify the town. Mayor Reece Lasher appointed me as Chair of the Weaverville Tree Board -- a post I have held since 1990. The Weaverville Tree Board consists of a chair and five members and is one of the Town’s most active boards. It has planted over 619 trees in Weaverville, a town with a population of 2,417 people.

A top priority for me is ensuring that trees receive high visibility. Arbor Day is our time to shine and celebrate trees. We plan an Arbor Day ceremony that includes all ages with a school chorus providing special music, presentation of awards to young people who were winners in the Tree Board’s poster and poetry contests, beautification awards to property owners, and sometimes a poem about trees that may have been written by one of Weaverville’s older citizens.

As mayor and chair of the Weaverville Tree Board, I look for every opportunity to plant trees and encourage others to plant trees, whether writing articles about trees for the town’s monthly newsletter, undertaking special projects to earn the Tree City USA Growth Award for the town, or serving on other boards like Quality Forward which is committed to working for a clean and green Buncombe County.

Planning educational workshops and seminars, obtaining grant money to extend our urban forestry program, creating in booklet form the Tree Board’s "List of Recommended Trees," organizing an annual garden tour with donations being used to beautify the town, designing and selling a special T-shirt that says "Weaverville Trees -- A Shade Better," or doing special tree planting with schools, clubs, or other organizations provide ways that enhance our tree planting mission.

In 2003, Weaverville received its thirteenth Tree City USA Award and its tenth Growth Award. It has been satisfying to be part of an important moment in Weaverville’s history when trees have
been a top priority in the town, to see trees planted throughout the town, to have done it with others, and to know that the town is better for the beautiful trees that have been planted.

"How much do you want for the tree?"
by Pete Morris, City of Laurinburg

Imagine if we were to consider selling our treasured trees. You know, the mature and majestic oaks that line our city streets. What if an old, experience horse trader walked up and said "What you take for her?" If he only knew ...

Remember the McCallum twins that used to play marbles under the tree -- they live in the big city now and own one of those fancy factories. I bet if you asked one of them, they would say that some of the best times of their lives were under the shady branches of "ol’ willow."

What about the big wind of ‘37, most every house in town was blown away but come morning "ol’ willow" stood tall. When the boys went off to war, where would we have tied our ribbons? I guess most of us would not even want to know what old Doc and the mayor used to talk about as they sat for hours under her cool branches.

And somebody wants to buy her.

How dare he ask! I heard him say that he would take her off our hands so we wouldn’t have to rake leaves anymore. Boy, does he underestimate how small a task that is for all she has given to us over the years. Besides, we kind of like gathering in the fall and enjoying time together while getting up a few leaves. I looked up the other day and saw a bird building a nest just above two squirrels playing. You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy that.

Come to think about it, let’s send someone over there right now and tell the old guy she’s not for sale ... and if she was, he couldn’t afford her.

Reflections on trees by a civilized animal
by Mark Foster, City of Asheville

As a municipal arborist, I am charged with the task of maintaining or improving the long-term vitality of an urban forest. The difficulty of this task is usually increased more by people than by the trees. People who don’t really think about trees when they design, install or maintain utilities and infrastructure can be challenging. Ironically, so can some of the people who do think about trees.

The desire by some to preserve every tree that now stands without regard for structural soundness, vitality or potential for adding fuel to catastrophic wild fires can be very challenging to urban and rural forest managers.

If you might be one of these people, please consider the following ...

Basic points:
... Trees have been on earth longer than us.
... Trees don't need us to exist or propagate.
... Trees are fed upon and otherwise utilized by numerous forms of life. And though most of these organisms have four, six or no legs, don't attend college or cocktail parties and probably have no concern for the ultimate survival of a tree or ecosystem, most people refer to this situation as natural if not idyllic.
... Humans are bipedal animals and as such respond to the natural world much like other animals, whether they realize it or not or like it or not. This may be due to the cocktail parties.
... Our notions about nature can sometimes be unrealistic, idealistic and diverge greatly from how nature really is.
... When humans manage rural or urban forests and utilize the wood products from them, this is sometimes thought of as unnatural, if not reprehensible, even though many of the humans doing the utilizing/ managing do think about the renewability of the resource they are tapping into.
... Despite cocktail parties, chainsaws and other trappings of "civilization," because we are animals, our behavior must logically be "natural."

We need to realize and remember that we are part of nature. Some would reply, "Of course I am. I drive a hybrid car and eat organic food and wear clothes made of hemp." That’s not what I mean.
Other animals don’t do that stuff. Being part of nature means being part of the full cycle of destruction, recycling and renewal. Perhaps because of past excesses, some of us are too hard on ourselves and others about the destruction part of that equation -- the culling, thinning, harvesting or risk tree mitigation.

Destruction, however, is as essential a component of life as recycling and renewal. After all, we don't accuse beavers, termites, leaf cutter ants, or fungi of acting unnaturally toward trees for doing what they do with them. If we can come to grips with being animals ourselves and fully a part of nature (nature as it is, not as we like to imagine it), we can get on with the job of intelligent, responsible urban and rural forest management.

Decisions should be made because they are the best compromise between the needs of the forest and our society. We as managers can’t be afraid to make decisions of small destruction in the short term, to avoid vast destruction and waste in the long term.

Thanks for your attention.

NCUFC sets I-40 Blitz sites
The North Carolina Urban Forest Council is making plans for a workshop series with stops along Interstate 40 the week of June 21-25, 2004.

The "I-40 Blitz," a tree risk management and policy development workshop, features Mark Duntemann of Natural Path Forestry.

Watch for stops in Wilmington, Raleigh, Greensboro, Hickory and Asheville, NC. For more information, contact NCUFC at 336-774-0215, ncufc@aol.com, www.ncufc.org.

Due care of public trees
by Guy Meilleur, Better Tree Care

In 2002, the city’s contractor pruned a few dead branches out of the big sugar maple that hung over the road in front of the school. The rest of the tree looked fine to him; the leaves were full and green. In 2003, a thunderstorm toppled the tree onto a car waiting to pick up a student, breaking the driver’s back. The city’s insurance company wanted to know if the city exercised Due Care.

The tree had four visible defects: a large girdling root, other root and trunk damage from lawnmowing, the one-sided crown, and streaks of decay on the trunk. There was little wood left; the stump was a ring of bark around a deep hollow. The city’s tree risk management program consisted of responding to random observations. The insurer understood this was not Due Care, and paid out a sizable settlement to the victim.

Sovereign Immunity is the concept that you can’t sue City Hall for an accident if City Hall didn’t know there was a problem. However, sovereign immunity was not invoked by the city’s insurer in this case. Lack of knowledge was understood to be a result of a lack of due care, so it did not protect the city from suit. Other cities of a similar size had proactive programs, and the information needed for assessing and managing the tree resource was readily available.

Urban Tree Risk Management is a guide found at www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/
pubs/uf/utrmm/. Chapters 1 and 2 outline ways that cities can develop tree programs. Surveys have found that proactive cities spend half of what reactive, crisis-management programs cost. Mitigation such as pruning and cabling can also cost a fraction of removal and replacement, so it pays in many ways for cities to grow their arboreal resource rather than shrink it.

Prioritization of inspection starts with high target areas, such as schools. Defects and poor condition come next, and most of these can be reduced to an acceptable level of risk. There is no such thing as a perfectly safe tree, or bridge, or utility. If the bulb in a streetlight is defective, it is simply replaced. Defective parts of trees can similarly be managed.