20
Wednesday, August 30, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
TREE REMOVAL: Hazard
trees will be taken
out under plan
Continued from page 1
Management Plan. They
also asked for a review by
City Forester Dan Galecki of
Spindrift Forestry Consulting
regarding proposed tree
removals on all three school
campuses, and a tour of the
campuses by the UFB and
Public Works prior to any
more work.
The school district man-
agement plan is guided by
three main goals: 1. Minimize
risks to students, faculty, par-
ents, visitors, and the gen-
eral public through hazard
tree and limb identification,
and fire fuels mitigation; 2.
Improve the health condi-
tion of currently established
and future trees to promote a
healthy, diverse, variable-age
forest that will benefit cur-
rent and future generations;
and 3. Improve the safety of
the SSD campuses by mini-
mizing on-campus screening
from trees, limbs, and foli-
age, thus creating and main-
taining clear lines of sight
across campuses to improve
vehicle, pedestrian, and foot
traffic, and to discourage
potential human and animal
predators, hostage situations,
active shooter, and other law
enforcement concerns.
Additionally, in the winter,
trees shading parking lots and
sidewalks hinder melting of
ice and snow, slowing down
efforts of district maintenance
personnel to clear away the
snow and ice.
Trees growing in close
proximity to any solid sur-
faces such as parking lots,
driveways, and sidewalks,
give rise to heaving and lift-
ing issues creating tripping
hazards and increased costs
to repair such areas.
Trees that are spaced fur-
ther apart, allow larger mow-
ers and fertilizing equipment
to get in between the trees,
eliminating slower handwork.
Trees close to the school
buildings create maintenance
issues with needles accu-
mulating in the gutters. This
past winter, collected needles
helped to create ice dams,
which caused damage to the
buildings. Particularly at the
middle school, classrooms
on the second floor do not
receive much daylight due
to the trees near the building.
Teachers have complained
about the lack of natural day-
light in the classrooms.
The Urban Forestry Board
is a requirement for recipi-
ents of the Tree City USA
designation, which the City
has received for the past 10
years. The board began meet-
ing on a regular basis after
the public outcry following
removal of a number of trees
in Creekside Campground
several years ago.
The five-member UFB
provides guidance for the
management of the urban for-
est (those trees located within
public rights-of-way, parks,
and public places owned or
controlled by the City), and
provides recommendations
to staff regarding City ordi-
nances and codes involv-
ing trees. The Community
Development Director can
ask for their review of and
recommendations for pro-
posed tree removals in sub-
divisions being built in the
city. The board works in con-
cert with the contracted City
Forester.
Dave Moyer is chairman
of the UFB and has 42 years
experience as an employee
with the U. S. Forest Service.
The other four members of
the board all have experience
in related fields.
On last week’s tour of
school grounds, the UFB
heard from both Dave Vitelle
of Bear Mountain Fire (who
is donating the tree removal
services) and from Galecki
regarding the reasoning
behind each of their recom-
mendations for limbing and
thinning of trees. Vitelle’s
initial recommendations for
removal were all marked
with a blue paint spot at the
base of the tree. Galecki
had indicated his suggested
removals by circling the tree
with blue tape so the UFB
could easily compare the
recommendations.
Generally speaking,
Galecki’s removal recom-
mendations were far more
conservative than Vitelle’s,
leaving more trees in place,
and considering providing
thickets and the occasional
dead tree for wildlife habi-
tat. Vitelle favored removal
of almost all junipers due to
their aggressive consump-
tion of water, which he said
negatively impacts surround-
ing ponderosas and other
vegetation. Galecki and the
UFB favored a more diverse
forest, leaving those junipers
that had space around them
and removing those in close
proximity to the ponderosas.
The fi x is...
PHOTO BY SUE STAFFORD
Referred to as “snaking”, crooked trees like this are marked for removal.
“Strongest tree is the straightest tree.” - Dave Vitelle
Vitelle recommended
removal of any dead tree.
Galecki suggested study-
ing the cause of the tree’s
mortality and its particular
placement before decid-
ing to remove it. Vitelle’s
approach called for thinning
to leave single trees with
more open space around each
tree. Galecki suggested leav-
ing some clumps of trees and
then spacing away from the
clump, in addition to single
trees.
Disagreement surfaced
regarding the areas at the
east end of the elementary
school where the local deer
are known to bed down. SSD
Operations Director Ryan
Stock said that school dis-
trict personnel have to herd
the deer out in the morning
because children play in that
area and he is concerned that
See TREE REMOVAL on page 22
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