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Appendix A: Trees for Tomorrow Program
The goal of the Wake Forest Trees for Tomorrow (TFT) program is rejuvenate, enhance and sus- tain the town’s tree canopy by partnering with community members to plant and care for trees.
There may be significant financial and logistical hurdles to planting additional trees throughout the Town of Wake Forest if we continue to contract out tree work. Based on current funding levels, it is estimated that it would take $1.1 million to perform the pruning and root collar excavation that is needed to maintain the current street trees. There is also a 10 year backlog of tree maintenance work to be done, not including the trees that are going to be planted with new developments. It is also estimated that there are more than 5,000 locations where additional street trees can be planted, and an immediate need for more than 500 trees needed to replace dead or unhealthy trees or stumps; including more than 50 trees need to be replaced this fall. The Wake Forest Trees for Tomorrow program is a way to alleviate some of this cost by adopt- ing a model that partner’s with the town’s citizens and businesses to plant trees. The TFT partnership can take the form of an individual request of up to three trees, or a TFT request to participate in a community project by either providing financial support or trees. The tree(s) supplied through the TFT program can be either “street trees” or “private property” trees. The town is also in the process of establishing a tree nursery in E. Carroll Joyner Park that may be able to provide a low-cost tree stock for this endeavor. The trees will be free, but citizens will be required to plant and care for the trees. Education is a big part of the TFT program. In fact the nursery program will provide educa- tional programs beginning in the spring of 2013 that will provide the manpower needed to plant and maintain the nursery trees. The Urban Forestry Board section of the town’s website, in addition to housing access to the application, will provide access to planting and tree care information. It will also ask applicants to take a “Volunteer Tree Caretaking Pledge,” creating an additional level of commitment and buy-in from the community towards enhancing the urban tree canopy of Wake Forest. In order to qualify to receive assistance through this program Wake Forest residents would fill out an application, which will ask for specific information including: is the request for trees or financial assistance, when and where the tree(s) will be planted, the species of tree(s) to be planted, and who will plant and care for the tree(s), etc. Only Wake Forest residents would be eligible for this program and all tree plantings must be located within the Town of Wake Forest. The Urban Forestry Board reviews and accepts or rejects all applications. The board will consider tree species, planting season, location along with other factors when making their decisions. All decisions made by the UFB would be final. Rejected applications may be re-sub- mitted for future approval with appropriate changes. Approved applications will be forwarded to the town for implementation. Town staff and/or UFB members will visit the property and evaluate existing site constraints, such as overhead power lines, underground utilities, and soil types, among others. Street trees must be planted within or adjacent to the town right of way. If the town’s participation in a project is requested, a project description must accompany the application, along with a description of care that the trees will receive.
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