1F, Forestry Update and Discussion

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EN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: October 19, 2009 Item LF TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members Ron Moorse, City Administrator FROM: Greg Hoag, Public Works Director SUBJECT: Forestry Update and Discussion BackLyround The City of Arden Hills has continued the long tradition of maintaining an urban forest on public and private lands within the city. To assist in monitoring and maintaining the urban forest the city has certified tree inspectors on staff who can address forestry issues with our residents as well as other city staff. This service is made available at no additional costs to our residents. The main emphasis of the forestry program is diseased and hazardous tree management as well as public education and assistance. The tree inspectors respond to approximately fifty requests about tree issues each year. The majority of these requests are related to diseased tree management of Dutch Elm Disease (DED), Oak Wilt (OW), and more recently Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). While DED has slowed down the last several years in Arden Hills, OW has been steady. To date no cases of EAB have been identified in Arden Hills. We continue to monitor its movement in the metro area. The closest confirmed case of EAB is on the U of M St. Paul campus in the city of Falcon Heights. It is expected that EAB will become the primary tree disease of concern in the next several years, and will have the same types of effects on the urban forest that DED had in the 1970's. Our tree inspectors estimate that there are several hundred ash trees in our city parks. This does not include any ash trees on boulevards in the public right of way throughout the city. Over the summer, the City Council brought several forestry related items to staff s attention. These items included: procedures we use for day to day forestry requests, how are we going to react to EAB if and when it arrives in Arden Hills, long term health and current condition of the trees planted along Highway 96, and the Friends