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<br />REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION <br />Date: 4/15/2024 <br />Item No.: 7.c. <br />Department Approval City Manager Approval <br /> <br /> <br />Item Description: Recieve Forestry Program and EAB Update <br />1 <br />2 Background <br />3 The City of Roseville recognizes the importance of maintaining a healthy and sustainable urban forest to <br />4 enhance the quality of life for residents, promote environmental stewardship, and support economic <br />5 vitality. Roseville has been a Tree City USA city for 29 years, and has received the Tree City Growth <br />6 Award (which recognizes major milestones and annual activities in forestry) 11 times. <br />7 <br />8 In recent years, forestry has become even more prominent in the community as sustainability and <br />9 climate resilience have become more important to residents. However, concurrently, threats from pests <br />10(most notably and recently Emerald Ash Borer, or EAB), and drought have posed challenges to the <br />11 City’s public urban forest. <br />12 <br />13 Staff will present a summary of forestry operations from 2024 including an update on the Accelerated <br />14 EAB Program, the results of a recently conducted public-tree inventory, and a discussion of some <br />15 possible “next steps” that the City can consider as we move on from the EAB. <br />16 <br />17 ACCELERATED EAB PROGRAM REVIEW <br />18 In March 2022, the City entered into an agreement with Tree Trust to implement the Accelerated EAB <br />19 Program; an ambitious and aggressive program that called for the removal of 914 ash trees, planting <br />20 1,152 new trees, and ongoing treatment of 238 ash; to be completed by the end of 2025. <br />21 <br />22 Throughout the Accelerated EAB Program, $389,000 in grant funding has been secured to support the <br />23 program. Additionally, the City has received grants for multiple AmeriCorps NCCC Forest Corps <br />24(ForestryCorps) members, valued at $129,500. These funds will significantly decrease the impact on the <br />25 Parks Capital Improvement Program Fund, and the Tree Preservation Fund. <br />26 <br />27 Progress on the Accelerated EAB Program continues ahead of schedule, with removals slated for <br />28 completion later this summer, and plantings planned to wrap up early in spring of 2025. <br />29 <br />30 Staff will provide updates on the progress to date, including timeline, and budget. <br />31 <br />32 PUBLIC TREE INVENTORY <br />33 In 2023, the City completed a public tree inventory (funded by a grant from the Minnesota Department of <br />34 Natural Resources). The City’s contractor, Davey Tree Services, inventoried the species, size, and <br />35 health of each of Roseville 10,383 public trees, and 1,960 currently vacant possible planting locations. <br />36 Data from the inventory supports several conclusions: <br />37 Roseville's urban forest is more species diverse than it historically has been. <br />38 97.2% of Roseville’s public trees are in fair or good condition; however, conversely, nearly 3% of <br />39 the City's public trees are poor or dead. <br />Page 1 of 3 <br />Qbhf!44!pg!63 <br /> <br />