Inventory and Management of Trees Within Your Park

Inventory and Management of Trees Within Your Park System Thursday February 18, 2017; 8: 30 AM – 9: 45 AM 2017 Conference & Trade Show

Introductions Brittany Bird Luke Murchie Natural Resources Project Advisor Forestry Groundskeeper II ISA Certified Arborist

Park System Context At a glance…. ¡ ¡ ¡ Total # parks: 13 Total Park Area: 6, 800 acres 70% undeveloped natural areas Total Lake & Associated Wetland habitat: 1200 acres Total Trails: > 64 miles l l 5 2 1 6 golf courses water parks regional soccer complex natural area/ passive recreation parks

Need for a Tree Management Program ¡ 2000+ acres of mixed recreational-use park land within or adjacent to forest resources • scattered, low-density, mixed-age ornamental trees • small, fragmented, remnant hardwood stands ¡ No professional arborist evaluation in 47 years ¡ Basic park-by-park reactionary response for storm damage and emergency high-risk removals ¡ No systemic, proactive management for risk trees or for phased legacy replacements ¡ OCPR Administration sought to minimize risk by conducting a baseline tree inventory

Approach Address risk and public safety concerns first 1. Start with a hazardous tree inventory 2. Use the haz tree inventory and management recommendations as a framework for: Long-term budget projections ¡ Staffing and equipment investments ¡ On-going forestry management ¡ l l proper long-term care of forestry resources ensuring safety of the general public.

Hazardous Tree Inventory Contract ¡ 2013 Competitive Bid Contract ¡ 3 bids received ¡ Awarded to Davey Tree ¡ $116, 000 l l l Built Infrastructure ($72, 912) Trails ($29, 987) Reports/GIS Data ($13, 100) ¡ Kick-off – October 2013 ¡ Inventory Field Work March – April 2014

Inventory Framework Survey and Risk Assessment Existing trees within fall distance of: 1. Built infrastructure areas ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ Buildings Campgrounds Golf – Active play areas Playgrounds Picnic Areas/ Pavilions Dog Parks Sport fields/ game courts Parking areas 2. Key trails ¡ ¡ High-use trails Paved trails

Data Collected Geo-spatially Referenced Data ü park budget center ü condition ü primary maintenance needs ü further inspection ü risk assessment ü location value ü risk rating ü mapping coordinate ü species ü notes ü stems ü observations ü tree size (DBH)* ü park/location

Rating Trees & Prioritizing Maintenance Risk assessment and risk rating Urban Tree Risk Management (Pokorny et al. 1992) o Low o Moderate o High o Severe Primary maintenance ANSI A 300 (Part 1) o Remove o Tree Clean o Young Tree Train o Stump Removal

Report Deliverables Inventory Data was summarized into: ¡ Overall System-wide Tree Management Plan ¡ Park-specific plans l l ¡ Map Booklets Tree Inventory Workbooks All GIS data

Results & Findings o A total of 19, 577 trees were recorded ü ü o o o 16, 234 built landscape trees 3, 343 trail system trees Amounts to approx. 1% of all trees within the park system The majority of surveyed trees were in fair condition Estimated total cost for the first year of recommended work = $918, 000

Maintenance Needs - Summary

Results - Value of Forestry Resources USDA FS i-Tree Analysis – Ecosystem Values o o Appraised value of inventoried trees: $50. 0 million Inventoried trees provide approximately $2. 0 million in annual environmental benefits: üAesthetic/Tangible Benefits: $750, 000/yr üEnergy Conservation: $853, 000/yr üStorm water Management: $208, 000/yr (interception of 26, 051, 621 gallons/ yr) üAir Quality: $152, 000/yr (27, 754 pounds of air pollutants) üCarbon Sequestration: $19, 000/yr (capture 5, 770, 278 lbs CO 2/ yr)

Reality…Initial Budget & Staffing The Money ¡ FY 15 - $50, 000 l l The People ¡ FY 14 -15 $25 K Removals $25 K Planting l l l ¡ FY 16 & 17 - $60, 000 l l $25 K Removals $12. 5 K Planting $12. 5 K Disease $10 K Debris Management ¡ 1 FTE Groundskeeper II 1 PTNE Parks Maint Aide 1 PTNE Park Helper FY 16 & 17 l l l 1 FTE Groundskeeper II 1 PTNE Parks Maint. Aide 2 -3 PTNE Parks Helpers

2014 -2015 Summary Stats Severe/High Risk – Hazardous Tree Removals l l l l Groveland Oaks - 34 Rose Oaks - 0 Highland Oaks - 3 Springfield Oaks - 19 Independence Oaks - 28 Orion Oaks - 22 Addison Oaks - 172 Waterford Oaks - 33 White Lake Oaks - 17 Lyon Oaks - 11 Glen Oaks - 26 Red Oaks - 17 Catalpa Oaks – 0

Why is This Info Valuable To Us? o It tells us where we are in terms of our urban forest condition (immediate needs) o Gives us a framework on where to start o Helps to plan what work we can do in house vs. contracted

Where we started… Day use areas/most often used o o o Campgrounds Golf Courses Beaches High use trails Over structures

2015 – 2016 Summary of Completed Removals o So far we have completed 299 removals from the tree inventory o Additional 112 that were not on the list to be removed

Documenting the Work Arc GIS Online (AGO) o Davey Tree documented each tree in AGO which allows us to track completed work. o Each tree is color coded according to removals, trims, stump ground, etc. o We use the Collector APP on i. Phones in the field to document our daily work.

Determining Contract work Safety – Can we do the work safely?

Determining Contract work Equipment limitations – Tree too large?

Determining Contract work Convenience – Are your crews not able to complete all of the work that needs to be done? o Crew size vs. work volume o Other work priorities

Determining Contract work Diseased wood Does the wood need to be handled in a certain way? o Oak Wilt

Disease Detection & Response Oak Wilt o Loss of valuable trees o Ability to spread o Cost of contract work ($18 k at WLG)

Disease Detection & Response Reducing Cost by doing work in house o Diagnostics ü o o o ASM & MSU lab Trenching Injections Removals?

Disease Detection & Response o Contractor injection cost – 24” tree cost $672 ($28/in. DBH) o In-house injection cost – 24” Tree cost $7. 50 (Chemical cost $. 31/In. DBH)

Disease Detection & Response Plant native species!!!!!

Debris Management Where is all the wood going? o Contractor taking it? o If done in-house how is it disposed of?

Debris Management Burn/Tub grind piles o o Easily can get too large Can be expensive to dispose of Has to be handled twice May be the best option if you do not have equipment too handle it in other ways

Debris Management Chip as you go o Most effective way to deal with the brush o Requires a chipper and chipper truck o Leaves behind woodchip piles that need to be cleaned/dispersed (if you aren't chipping into a truck)

Debris Management Where’s all that wood going? o o Potential firewood for heat? Potential firewood sales? Potential log sales? Leave it where it lies?

Debris Management What we are doing with it… o Wood burning boiler

Staffing Considerations How many employees can we afford? o o Full time or part time? (currently we have 1 full time and 4 part time 1000 hour positions on our forestry crew) The more the merrier…for us the inhouse cost for tree work is considerably less than contracting it out ü ü FY 18 – Upgrading Existing PTNE Positions Continue to augment winter forestry crews with natural resources staff

Equipment Considerations o o o o Boom truck (Forestry type) Chipper Chainsaws Trailers Skidsteer/Mini Loader Proper PPE Rigging equipment

Moving Forward Continuing to Build the Forestry Program o Documenting an official Risk Management Plan o Updating the Inventory o Comprehensive Tree Replacement Plan o Making the case for additional staff and equipment o Continued Staff Training

Questions? Luke Murchie Forestry Groundskeeper II/ ISA Certified Arborist Oakland County Parks & Recreation 2800 Watkins Lake Road Waterford, Michigan 48328 murchiel@oakgov. com (248) 343 -1353 Mobile Brittany Bird Natural Resources Project Advisor Oakland County Parks & Recreation 2800 Watkins Lake Road Waterford, Michigan 48328 birdb@oakgov. com (248) 343 -1353 Mobile