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Work Management Plan, Staffing and Budget
Street Tree Management Priorities In order to minimize the hazards and costs and maximize the long term value of the town’s urban forest, the following management activities are recommended, in order of descending priority: 1. Inventory all trees, inspect potential hazard trees, and maintain inventory by inspecting 1/5 of the town’s trees annually. This will ensure the safety of people and property and ensure that accurate information is used to guide management decisions. 2. Remove any hazard trees, and correct any dangerous structural issues such as dead limbs and weak forks to ensure public safety. 3. Maintain large trees, particularly in heavily used parks and town property, as these are the town’s most valuable trees, and also those most likely to become hazardous if not maintained. 4. Maintain young trees to prevent problems that may become public safety concerns in the future, or which could lead to the decline or death of the tree in the future. 5. a. Remove stakes and ties that are no longer needed. b. Prune for structure and clearance. c. Excavate root collars and correct girdling roots. d. Provide mulch and water to ensure survival and increase growth rate. 6. Maintain pests and diseases at an acceptable level using an integrated pest management (IPM) approach. 7. Replace trees that have been recently removed. 8. Plant additional trees in available spaces using inexpensive stock and volunteers where possible.
Current Estimated Street Tree Maintenance Workload Staff costs could not be estimated for the following tasks using currently available information:
• Hazardous tree removal: (Number of trees unknown due to sampling methods, but likely to exceed 25 trees) $10,000 per year (A conservative estimate based on FY 2011/2012 tree removals) • Pest and disease control: 730 trees per year at $21,900 per year (Estimated using 2009 contract with Bartlett Tree Experts; data on equivalent staff time unavailable)
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