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January 20, 1994 To: Falcon Heights City Council Members From: Linda Treeful, City Forester RE: 1993 Report on the City's Tree Program p Y 9 The number of elms removed in Falcon Heights during 1993 was slightly higher than in 1992. Nine boulevard elms and 10 elms on private property were removed (see Table 1), compared with 7 boulevard and 11 private elms in 1992 (Table 2). Six trees, other than elms, were marked and removed because of disease or storm damage (Table 3). During 1993, my sixth year as city forester, I worked 494.5 hours; it was my busiest year yet. An outline of activities by month is described in the attached Work Plan. Highlights of the year follow. All the stops were pulled out for the Arbor Day program, which was held on a cool May 15 at Curtiss Field. Phil Chenoweth generously put together a video tape of the ceremony which was regularly aired on the cable TV channel. On April 2, the Mayor, his wife, myself and my husband attended an enjoyable Tree City USA Award program at the Minnesota Zoo. Valvolene Rapid Oil Change sponsored the event and picked up tabs for the dinners. Falcon Heights was awarded a Tree City USA designation for 1992 and received a Tree City Growth Award. These awards recognize our community's long standing commitment to maintaining its urban forest resource. While suggesting ways to avoid damaging boulevard trees, I learned about road reconstruction from Frattalone Construction Company in University Grove with the delightful project inspector, Dick Jacobsen. On the whole, the construction crews were careful. Boulevard trees were fertilized in the Grove at the end of October to help the trees produce new growth next year. The boulevard tree inventory and the America the Beautiful grant report were completed. The second year of our 5 year trimming cycle was completed. S S Tree Service did a fine job trimming the boulevard trees on Asbury, Arona, Simpson and Crawford. Ash yellows was confirmed in one tree in Falcon Heights and that tree was removed. I anticipate more infected trees will show symptoms with time. Immediate removal of the infected trees is not required since this disease has not been shown to be contagious like Dutch elm disease. The 29 evergreen trees relocated in the Roselawn- Cleveland park during 1992 put on new growth and looked good in 1993. Plentiful rain certainly helped get these transplants established. Unfortunately several other trees were vandalized and destroyed in the same park. Several workshops and conferences were attended including the Shade Tree Short Course Tree Inspector Recertification on March 24 -25, and a Hazardous Tree Workshop, sponsored by the DNR, at Bunker Hills Recreation Center on April 15. I received a registration scholarship for $175 from the Minnesota Shade Tree Advisory Committee for volunteering on the Registration Committee for the 6th National Urban Forest Conference, which was held on September 14 -18 in Minneapolis. Goals set and achieved in 1993 included: (1) Completion of a detailed, computerized boulevard tree inventory. (2) Organization and execution of a widely advertised, Arbor Day program at Curtiss Field. I don't think 1994 will be as busy as 1993. Nonetheless, my goals for 1994 include: (1) Completing an inventory of trees in the city parks and at City Hall. (2) Applying for and receiving a DNR grant for a tree trimming or planting project. (3) Participating in the planning and development of the Cleveland Median project. (4) Passing the International Society of Arboriculture exam to become a Certified Arborist. (5) Applying for and receiving TreeCity USA and TreeCity Growth Awards for 1994. (6) Developing a Total Forestry Management Plan for Falcon Heights. will miss Shirley Chenoweth's guidance, dedication and sense of humor as she retires.