To achieve the recommended arboricultural standards a Forest Inspection and Lifecycle Program is proposed through a 5 year Improvement Implementation Strategy. The strategy would commence in 2008 through a phased implementation in future budget submissions. Such submissions would be brought forward separately from annual growth requirements. The 5 year Improvement Implementation Strategy as outlined in this report, would represent an annual budgetary increase of approximately $1M and would include a combination of staff, equipment and contract services.

RÉSUMÉ

Le Plan officiel de la Ville d’Ottawa (2003) contient des objectifs précis visant les forêts des secteurs urbains et ruraux et veut imprimer une orientation proactive à l’entretien et à la protection de ces biens écologiques. Le Plan officiel charge également le personnel municipal d’appliquer des pratiques de gestion exemplaires pour les arbres et forêts appartenant à la Ville et d’assumer un rôle prépondérant dans les programmes de foresterie urbaine d’envergure nationale, et énonce l’engagement de la Ville à prendre les mesures voulues pour que la couverture forestière passe de 28 % aujourd’hui à 30 % au cours de la période du plan.

La division des Services forestiers est chargée d’entretenir, de préserver, de protéger et d’améliorer les 257 000 arbres embellissant les rues et les parcs de la Ville ainsi que ses terrains forestiers s’étendant sur 10 000 hectares. Le travail de la Ville en arboriculture et foresterie est effectué bien sûr conformément aux règles de l’art, mais il faut que la Ville élabore un plan d’action global pour son infrastructure verte afin d’assurer l’entretien de tout l’inventaire arboricole et forestier selon les normes qui s’imposent.

Le Programme d’entretien des arbres et des forêts qui est proposé préconise la méthode du cycle de vie pour l’entretien des arbres et comprend un programme proactif d’élagage, de fertilisation et d’arrosage des arbres appartenant à la Ville. La fonction d’entretien des arbres se trouve ainsi centralisée dans un seul programme qui peut être appliqué à tout l’inventaire des biens écologiques de la Ville. En plus de viser les activités municipales d’entretien des arbres, ce Programme d’entretien énonce des volets s’appliquant à l’entretien des forêts urbaines et rurales faisant partie des aires naturelles municipales et établit des lignes directrices et des politiques visant à préserver et protéger les arbres exposés aux activités d’aménagement et de construction.

Le Programme d’entretien traite également des programmes d’embellissement ou de plantation d’arbres offerts par la Ville, tels que Le fonds des arbres, le Programme des arbres commémoratifs, le Programme des partenariats communautaires pour la plantation d’arbres et Arpents verts! Programme de reboisement rural. Tous ces programmes aident la Ville à atteindre ses objectifs en matière de couverture forestière.

Les Normes de qualité pour l’entretien définissent le niveau de service souhaitable que la Ville atteindra par le biais de ces programmes de foresterie. Leurs objectifs sont de fournir des niveaux de service sûrs, fiables et abordables, de préserver et protéger l’infrastructure écologique et le milieu naturel et, enfin, d’embellir et renforcer les aires arboricoles et forestières de la Ville. Ces normes offriront en outre un cadre de référence pour mesurer le rendement et permettront au Conseil et aux citoyens de préciser leurs attentes.

Les normes de qualité proposées tiennent compte des niveaux d’entretien actuels pour les arbres de la Ville qui sont entretenus au moyen du budget courant des Services forestiers. Toutefois, le programme actuel permet seulement de répondre aux demandes de service concernant l’échappée de vue et la santé et sécurité des arbres et d’intervenir en cas d’urgence lorsqu’il y a par exemple des plaintes de dommages à la suite d’une tempête. Cette activité vise à peine 2 % de tout l’inventaire arboricole de la Ville et représente un programme d’entretien des arbres qui prévoit leur élagage selon un cycle de 42 ans. Dans le cas de la plus grande partie de l’inventaire arboricole établi de la Ville, un tel programme ponctuel ne peut comprendre des inspections fondées sur le cycle de vie ni aucune forme d’élagage préventif.

Les bienfaits des arbres sont nombreux sur les plans de l’environnement, de la vie sociale et de la santé et l’adoption d’un programme plus proactif d’entretien fondé sur le cycle de vie aurait de nombreux avantages pour la Ville. Les arbres municipaux constituent un bien appartenant à la Ville et il faut les gérer comme toute autre infrastructure municipale. Il convient d’appliquer un programme de gestion et d’élagage préventif des arbres qui permettra de :

· Supprimer les branches mortes, malades ou infectées d’insectes

· Améliorer l’arborescence

· Renforcer l’arbre

· Enlever les branches pouvant nuire à la signalisation routière, à l’éclairage des rues et à la circulation des véhicules.

Un programme proactif permet d’éliminer de tels dangers et de réduire au minimun la responsabilité légale de la Ville. Selon les normes du secteur de l’arboriculture, les arbres devraient être inspectés et élagués tous les sept ans.

Pour mettre en oeuvre les normes arboricoles recommandées, on propose un Programme d’inspection et de gestion des forêts selon le cycle de vie par le biais d’une Stratégie de mise en oeuvre des améliorations, échelonnée sur cinq ans. Cette stratégie entrerait en vigueur en 2008 et serait appliquée graduellement selon les postes de dépense établis dans les budgets futurs. Chacun de ces postes serait proposé indépendamment des besoins annuels liés à la croissance. La Stratégie de mise en oeuvre des améliorations décrite dans le présent rapport, échelonnée sur cinq ans, représenterait une augmentation budgétaire annuelle d’environ 1 million $ et reposerait à la fois sur le personnel municipal, les biens d’équipement et des services effectués par contrat.

BACKGROUND

The City of Ottawa’s Official Plan (2003) has set specific goals for its urban and rural forests and takes a proactive approach towards the maintenance and protection of these green assets. The Official Plan also directs staff to implement best management practices for City-owned street trees and forests, to take a leadership role in urban forestry programs nationwide and states that the city is committed to ensuring the target forest cover for the entire city is increased to 30% from its current level of 28%.

The Environmental Strategy in 2003 stated that the city shall be a green and environmentally sensitive city that preserves natural habitats and has a network of green spaces that is interesting, clean and benefits from an abundance of trees. Furthermore, the document goes on to describe the presence of trees as an important way of maintaining environmental integrity.

Through the city’s consultation process communities throughout Ottawa have strongly voiced their desire and need to maintain, enhance or improve the greenspace within our city. The city’s love of trees goes all the way back to 1869 when Ottawa City Council passed its first tree related by-law.

In that year, a by-law To Provide for the Planting of Shade and Ornamental Trees in the Public Streets and Squares in the City of Ottawa was adopted. The City paid $0.25 to each homeowner who properly planted a tree and maintained it in good condition for 2 years after planting. Several bylaws were passed from that point forward which dealt with the care and maintenance of the city’s “Street Infrastructure” and by 1962 reports were being forwarded to Council that described tree programs with an emphasis on reforestation, conservation and the “safeguarding” of street trees.

The eleven former municipalities and the Region of Ottawa-Carleton carried out tree maintenance practices at varying resource levels and in most municipalities there were no Council approved standards. In most municipalities, tree maintenance was directed to specific areas as they arose, such as roadside trees or trees adjacent to private property to address safety concerns.

The management of the city’s 257,000 street and park trees inventory and the 10,000 hectares of forested land falls under the responsibility of the Forestry Services Division of the Surface Operations Branch in the Public Works and Services Department.

This inventory represents one of the largest urban and rural forest inventories in Canada and the proposed Trees and Forest Maintenance Program provides Forestry staff with a framework that will maintain, preserve, protect and enhance the City’s trees and forests through standardized programs, services and by-laws.

The recommended framework focuses on the following program elements:

· Ensuring the life cycle management of the City’s trees and forests through the application of arboricultural and forestry best management practices

· Ensuring the City’s policies, legislation and programs relating to trees and forest cover are current and accurately reflect the City’s goals and objectives

· Managing the expansion of the City’s trees and forest inventories while emphasizing new methodology and innovation in Forestry Services’ day-to-day operations

· Promoting the efforts of the City of Ottawa’s arboricultural and forestry programs through education and outreach, and managing the City’s trees and forests through partnerships with internal and external stakeholders.

Current programs in Ottawa range from arboricultural activities like street tree trimming along residential streets and in parks to the protection of rare plants in Municipal Natural Areas. Forestry programs also establish guidelines and policies on the preservation and protection of trees impacted by development or through construction activities.

Finally, the enhancement of the City’s green asset inventory is done through tree planting programs like Trees in Trust, Community Partnership Tree Planting projects and the rural Green Acres reforestation program, all of which contribute to the City’s goal of increasing its forest cover.

Forestry Services also manages over 10,000ha of Municipal Natural Areas that are comprised of Conservation Forests, Municipal Greenspaces and Community Woodlands and is responsible for forest management activities such as sylvicultural operations that harvest trees in the city’s community forests in accordance with good forestry practices.

In some areas, these management activities are implemented in accordance with 20-year Resource Management Plans that maintain and enhance the long-term health of these forest ecosystems while also providing environmental, economic, social and cultural opportunities for the benefit of present and future generations. They are intended to minimize detriments to forest values that include significant ecosystems, important fish and wildlife habitats, soil and water quality, forest productivity and health, as well as the aesthetics and recreational opportunities of the landscape.

Forestry Services provides tree related advice and technical expertise to, and collaborates with, other City of Ottawa Branches such as Parks and Recreation, Infrastructure Services, Planning and Infrastructure Approvals, Real Property Asset Management and By-law Services. Forestry staff also works closely with the Ottawa Forest and Greenspace Advisory Committee on arboricultural and forestry programming and are also involved in forestry related initiatives and outreach programs with external organizations such as the Eastern Ontario Model Forest, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the local Conservation Authorities.

Diagram 1 illustrates the various partnerships Forestry Services maintains that assist in the maintenance, preservation, protection and enhancement of the urban and rural forests in the City of Ottawa.

Diagram 1

On 20 October 2004, proposed Quality Standards for trees were presented to the Health, Recreation and Social Services Committee as part of a staff report entitled Maintenance Quality Standards for Parks, Sports Fields and Trees. Based upon the level and degree of concerns raised specific to trees, particularly with how the care of trees would relate to the development of an overall maintenance program, it was determined to be appropriate at that time to detach the proposed tree standards so all matters relative to trees could be approached in a more comprehensive manner in a separate report.

DISCUSSION

Document 1 – A Proposed Trees and Forests Maintenance Program

Document 1 attached to this report describes the City’s proposed Trees and Forests Maintenance Program and those programs and activities that meet the City’s environmental goals and the mandate of the Forestry Services Division.

These programs focus on the maintenance, preservation, protection and enhancement of the city’s urban and rural forests and are intended to achieve the following objectives:

Maintenance

To maintain the environmental integrity of our urban and rural communities through the:

· Maintenance of forest cover and treed areas; and

· Maintenance of natural features to sustain natural systems.

To create liveable communities through the:

· Maintenance of greenspaces, which includes trees, to enhance the attractiveness of the city for residents and businesses.

Preservation and Protection

To maintain the environmental integrity of our urban and rural communities through the:

· Preservation of good air quality and the moderation of climate change;

· Conservation of provincially and locally significant forests;

· Protection of the City’s urban and rural forests’ natural features that serve a variety of functions including the provision of wildlife habitat, temperature moderation, natural cleansing and filtration of surface water, and carbon sequestration (carbon sinks); and

· Protection of cultural heritage landscapes which includes significant trees.

Enhancement (Tree Planting)

To provide infrastructure to ensure that road corridors function as public spaces through the:

· Provision of street trees to improve the natural environment.

To maintain the environmental integrity of our urban and rural communities through the:

Enhancement of forest cover and treed areas;
Design provisions for energy conservation which includes the use of trees for shade from sun and shelter from wind;

· Provision for the needs of a variety of wildlife including seasonal habitats and linkages; and

Provision of linked migration routes, which include trees and forested areas.

Individual tree care to sustain an appropriate level of tree health and public safety will be accomplished under the Tree Maintenance Program. Such a program would take a life cycle approach to maintenance in accordance with the arboricultural industry’s best management practices. The maintenance of forest communities to sustain their environmental integrity will be implemented under the Municipal Natural Area Maintenance Program and would be implemented to comply with good forestry practices as defined by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR).

Tree Maintenance Program

Current Tree Inventory

The Tree Maintenance Program outlines activities that are directed to those trees and forests that fall under the ownership of the City of Ottawa. The City has a diverse inventory of trees that are located on city road allowances, in parks and which are located on the edges of natural areas adjacent to private property or which line pathways and trails.

Table 1 illustrates these city-owned trees, which have been determined through pre-existing inventories managed by some former municipalities and through surveys conducted by Forestry Services since 2001.

Table 1 – City Of Ottawa Tree Inventory

Park and Right-of-Way Trees

257,000 trees

Pathway, Ravine and Urban Woodlots

(linear km of pathways and rear yard tree line)

200km

Rural Roadside Tree Line (in linear km)

400km

A tree line is a continual line of trees in Municipal Natural Areas or along a road allowance. In total the City is responsible for the maintenance of 857,000 trees that are located in parks, along road allowances or that are border trees in wooded areas located adjacent to private property, pathways or trails.

Specialty Tree Inventory

The city currently maintains only a portion of its tree inventory at a maintenance level that can be considered to be appropriate for a tree’s lifecycle requirements and that meets arboricultural industry standards. Some of these Specialty Trees receive a higher standard of care due to their species (white elms) or due to their location (trees in hard surfaces).

The majority of these Specialty Trees are newly planted trees that require a higher level of maintenance, primarily water, during their 3-year establishment period and those trees maintained through the Trees and Foundation program. Table 2 shows the inventory of trees that fall under the Specialty Tree category.

Table 2 – Specialty Tree Inventory

Category	Inventory
Newly Planted Trees	5,879
Hard Surface Trees	1,250
Trees Planted in Areas of Sensitive Marine Clay	9,400
Elm Trees	150
Trees with Structural Supports	990
TOTAL	17,669

The Tree Maintenance Program includes all activities related to the care of city-owned trees growing on roadways, in city-owned parks and at City facilities. With the exception of Specialty Trees, the maintenance of all remaining trees is done on a reactive basis through the service request process described later in this report. Individual tree maintenance activities such as trimming, fertilizing and watering are described in detail in Section 4.3 of Document 1.

Municipal Natural Area Maintenance Program

Municipal Conservation Forests Inventory

The following is a brief description of each of the major forested areas owned by the city.

Cumberland Forest

The Cumberland Forest consists of three blocks of land surrounding Vars in Cumberland Ward that total 599ha. The properties form part of the provincially significant Limoges Wetland Complex and contain one provincially significant plant and 5 regionally significant animals, birds and amphibians. The forest provides an important ecological corridor link between the Mer Bleue and Alfred Bogs.

Marlborough Forest

The Marlborough Forest is one of the most significant areas in the City of Ottawa for maintaining diversity and ecological functions. It is the largest forest owned by the city at 7,392ha. It is located in Rideau and Goulbourn Wards on a large continuous tract of shallow soil forming part of the Smith Falls Limestone Plain and is 59% forested with the remainder covered by wetlands and wildlife fields. There are 5 provincially significant wetlands, 1 provincially and one 1 regionally significant Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSIs) in the forest and they contain 9 provincially rare, and 80 regionally rare species of plants, birds and amphibians.

Carp Hills

The Carp Hills Forest is a block of forest located north of Carp in West Carleton Ward consisting of 449ha. The land was purchased in the late 1980s following an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) ruling where the former Region was obligated to purchase lands designated as Natural Environment Areas should the owner desire to sell their property. There are 2 provincially significant features, the Carp Hills Wetland Complex and the Carp Hills ANSI. The Carp Ridge is one of the most significant areas in the city due to its biodiversity and its diverse examples of Precambrian bedrock. This is one of the largest and wildest natural areas in the city with 13 species of regionally rare plants, animals and birds. The South March Highlands are located at the southern edge of this forest.

Pinery-Long Swamp Forest

The Pinery-Long Swamp Forest is located in West Carleton Ward and consists of 448ha. Like the Carp Hills many of these properties were purchased when the former Region was obligated by the OMB to purchase properties designated Natural Environment Areas. Most of these properties are in the Manion Corners - Long Swamp provincially significant wetland and the provincially significant Manion Corners ANSI. This wetland is the habitat for the provincially significant spotted turtle and 13 species of regionally significant plants.

Torbolton Forest

The Torbolton Forest is comprised of 174ha in West-Carleton Ward in the village of Constance Bay. The forest is located in the Constance Bay Sand Hills, which is a provincially significant ANSI of a dune forest complex. In a 1983 inventory conducted by the OMNR, it was found that 3 plants were nationally rare, 5 plants were provincially rare and 22 were regionally rare. There are also 7 regionally rare butterflies and 3 of these are rare to Eastern North America. Forestry staff maintains this rare plant inventory and forest maintenance activities follow a management regime that is intended to perpetuate this rare plant community.

Commencing in 2005, the city initiated a sylvicultural thinning operation to improve the overall health of the red pine plantations in the forest. A total of 44ha were thinned in the winter of 2005/06 and subsequent thinnings over the next 2 years will provide a similar treatment to an additional 68ha. Staff are also working with the local community association, the Friends of the Torbolton Forest and the OMNR to initiate the Province’s FireSmart Program in Constance Bay. This program educates residents living in proximity to forested areas on what they can do to reduce the risk of wildfire and how they can take the necessary precautions to protect their property.

These Municipal Conservation Forests have operational programs that are guided by Resource Management Plans. These 20-year plans guide timber and wildlife management and recreational activities that are then implemented through 5-year maintenance plans.

In addition to the management of these forest ecosystems, Forestry Services is also responsible for the maintenance of infrastructure within the forests. This includes signage, road and parking lot maintenance and litter pick-up. All forestry maintenance activities are conducted in accordance with good forestry practices and are described in detail in Section 4.4 of Document 1.

Municipal Greenspaces and Community Woodlands

Municipal Greenspaces can be natural landscapes in rural or urban areas, may include both treed and open spaces and are often associated with landforms that enhance the perception of a natural experience. Examples include storm water management ponds or naturalized parkland such as the Richmond Conservation Area, Bilberry, Graham and Sawmill Creek Ravines, Petrie Island and the Kilborn Greenspace corridor in Alta Vista.

Community Woodlands are natural landscapes, which are primarily treed. They are sometimes small in size and most often occur in urbanized or near urban landscapes. Community Woodlands are often isolated from larger contiguous landscapes and they provide habitat for urban wildlife. Examples include the Vanier Sugarbush; Elmhurst and Pleasant Park Woods; the Monaghan, Heart’s Desire and Sachs Forests and the Carver-Caldwell Conservation area at McKay Lake.

The Urban Natural Areas Evaluation Study (2005) identified approximately 2660ha of these natural areas within urban Ottawa. Of the 187 urban natural areas examined, 57 are owned by the City of Ottawa. A proactive approach to the management and maintenance of these lands that would protect the natural area functions of these natural areas was a key recommendation in the final report.

Management or maintenance plans exist for some areas but they are generally preserved as community greenspaces and conservation lands. Since these lands frequently abut private property and contain designated pathways and recreational areas, the border trees and their condition is of primary importance to Forestry Services staff.

Tree Preservation, Protection and Enhancement Programs

In addition to arboricultural maintenance and forest management activities, the Trees and Forests Maintenance Program outlined in Document 1 also describes those city programs that preserve, protect and enhance the city’s urban and rural forests that fall under the responsibility of the Forestry Services Division.

Preservation and Protection

The preservation and protection of the City’s trees is integral to the maintenance of a healthy urban and rural forest cover that is both diverse in age and species.

· Tree preservation refers to the retention of individual trees or stands of trees on lands that may be impacted by development or construction.

· Tree protection refers to the measures used to reduce the impact of construction on trees that have been deemed worthy of preservation.

The City of Ottawa has several by-laws, which deal with the protection of the urban and rural forest. The harmonized Municipal Trees and Natural Areas Protection By-law (No.2006-279) is the primary document dealing directly with city-owned trees in the City of Ottawa.

In addition to by-laws, Forestry Services plays a role in the preservation and protection of trees and Municipal Natural Areas through the circulation of site, subdivision and construction plans and through site inspections conducted during the city’s capital construction process. The components of the City’s preservation and protection program are described in Section 5 of Document 1.

Enhancement (Tree Planting)

The city has developed a series of programs that addresses resident’s tree planting requirements in both urban and rural areas. The programs have allowed for 2,000 trees and 100,000 seedlings to be planted annually. Section 6 of Document 1 provides details on the elements within each program.

Additional Support Programs

In addition to maintenance and management activities for trees and forests, the city has developed specific programs that deal with conditions that are either unique to the City of Ottawa (Trees and Foundations) or that support tree and forest maintenance activities (Tree Inventories and Outreach). The support programs are identified below and Section 7 of Document 1 provides additional details on the program elements.

Trees and Foundation Damage Strategy

Ottawa has a unique soil condition and many buildings are situated on fine-grained sensitive marine clays (commonly referred to as leda clays) that shrink and swell according to their water content. Studies have shown that a combination of factors, including trees, can result in soil shrinkage and differential settlement of foundations.

In 1997, the former City of Ottawa conducted a comprehensive review of how it addressed the issue of trees and foundation damage. Following Council’s direction in 2005, the Forestry Services Division undertook a review and assessment of the City’s current standards, policies and procedures.

The revised Trees and Foundation Strategy provides the city with a set of tools, including policies, procedures, best management practices and mitigation measures, that are now used to manage the interrelationship of trees and foundations. It includes both corrective measures, that address problems caused by existing conditions, and preventative measures that protect against future problems.

Dutch Elm Disease Program

From time to time, the infestation of a pest or disease requires a specialized response to mitigate or prevent a serious detriment to city-owned trees. Invasive insect infestations are on the rise in Canada. Emerald Ash Borer, Asian Longhorn Beetle and the European Woodwasp have all been found in Ontario and represent a hazard to the city’s urban and rural forests.

Ottawa benefited from the presence of thousands of white elm trees, which were planted in the early history of the capital and which lined most city streets in both the urban and rural areas. In 1948, Dutch Elm Disease was introduced to Canada and since that time the disease has resulted in the death and removal of most of the large diameter trees in the city. The City of Ottawa maintains a current inventory of 150 large diameter elms that would otherwise die if not treated annually. This program protects the few remaining significant elm trees in our community.

Under this program the city also works with the nursery industry and is attempting to introduce new disease resistant cultivars to the Ottawa area through its tree-planting program.

Tree Inventory

The foundation of an effective urban forest management program is a detailed tree inventory. Inventory data can be used to identify species diversity and distribution, percentage of canopy cover, size/class distribution, etc. Coupled with an inventory, a tree inspection cycle is integral for proper tree maintenance and hazard abatement.

Effective tree monitoring on an ongoing basis enables Forestry staff to evaluate the urban forest resource and develop short and long-term initiatives that can in turn provide substantial cost savings and mitigate safety issues. Section 7.3 in Document 1 identifies those elements of the city’s tree inventory. Inventory work will continue as the city moves forward in its life cycle programming.

Forestry Outreach Program

The Forestry Outreach Program focuses on public awareness and promotion, which is essential to support the proper maintenance, preservation, protection or enhancement of city-owned trees and forests. This information is updated regularly and is currently available on the city’s website. Section 7.4 in Document 1 provides additional detail on the information currently available under this Forestry program.

Partnerships

Forestry Services works closely with various partners to meet the City’s goals for its urban and rural forests. As seen in Diagram 1 earlier in this report, the Division provides forestry-related services and technical expertise internally to other City of Ottawa Departments and acts as a liaison externally to members of the community, government agencies and hydro authorities.

These various partnerships are considered essential in the implementation of the city’s forestry programs, particularly as it relates to protection and enhancement. Section 8 in Document 1 provides additional details on these partnerships and how they assist in realizing the city’s environmental goals.

The proposed Trees and Forests Maintenance Program provides a framework that ensures that the city’s trees and forests are maintained in a manner that meets the goals that Council has set out in the Official Plan and the Environmental Strategy. The programs and activities also ensure that the city’s green infrastructure is maintained in accordance with arboricultural and forestry best management practices that are appropriate for the trees and which meet the expectation of area residents.

Document 2 – Proposed Maintenance Quality Standards for Trees and Forests

Document 2 – Maintenance Quality Standards for Trees and Forests identifies the maintenance standards proposed for the City’s tree and forest inventories. The intent of the Maintenance Quality Standards is to define the desirable level of service that the City will achieve through its forestry programs and activities.

The recommended maintenance standards harmonize the delivery of the programs and activities that collectively constitute the city’s Trees and Forests Maintenance Program. Coinciding with the preparation of these proposed standards was the development of the Trees and Foundation Strategy (approved 12 October 2005) and the Municipal Trees and Natural Areas Protection By-law (approved 12 July 2006). The proposed standards support the tree and forest objectives of these policies and promote the management of the green infrastructure through appropriate maintenance levels.

The Maintenance Quality Standards have the following objectives:

To provide safe, dependable and affordable service levels;
To preserve the green infrastructure assets;
To protect the natural environment;
To enhance the appearance and health of the tree and forest community;
To provide a reference framework to measure performance;
To provide a basis of “Peer Review” with other comparable cities; and
To provide Council and citizens with a reference of expectations.

These proposed quality standards reflect current maintenance levels for Specialty Trees but are only a target for Established trees outside of the Request for Service process. As seen earlier in this report the Forestry budget currently does not provide for any life cycle inspections, or proactive trimming for the remaining Established 240,000 street and park trees and 600,000 border trees in the urban and rural areas. For trees in this category, funds exist to respond to requests for service, to rectify sightline and health and safety concerns and to respond to emergency calls such as storm damage complaints.

Current Request for Service Process

The Forestry Services mandate requires that Forestry staff respond to requests for service, or notifications, from area residents who contact the city with tree related concerns. Calls that are received by the City’s Call Centre, range from routine requests for tree trimming, to queries about the city’s tree planting programs, to more general questions on tree health or what residents can do about a neighbour’s tree that is encroaching on their property.

Call Centre staff then produce a service request that is forwarded to the Forestry Services Division and classified based upon request type. It should be noted that emergencies such as storm damage or notification of hazardous conditions are dispatched immediately and are usually addressed within 24 hours. All work is actioned by city staff or by contractors under Forestry staff supervision, since as the owners of the tree the city is liable for all work that takes place.

Priority-1 service requests are routine requests for tree maintenance such as trimming or queries on the tree-planting program. Such calls are inspected within 3-4 weeks, and where required the request becomes a work order which is placed on the appropriate work schedule. Currently the turnaround for such routine work is 6-8 months.

Priority-2 service requests are calls where residents make specific requests that do not directly affect the health of a tree but which present a problem on their property such as the removal of a branch that extends over their laneway. These calls are also inspected within 3-4 weeks. Although the city does not trim trees for shade or views, if the Forestry Inspector concludes that the overall health of the tree would benefit from the request a work order is prepared and the tree is added to the work schedule. Such requests usually take place in excess of 12 months to complete.

Table 3 below illustrates the number of service requests that have been logged by the Forestry office since 2001.

Table 3 – 2001-2006 Service Requests

Year	Service Requests Received	% Increase
2001	5089
2002	6613	23
2003	7235	9.5
2004	7771	7
2005	8919	13

As Table 3 indicates, since 2001 the total number of service requests received by Forestry Services has risen on average by 13% annually and this trend is expected to continue as the tree and forest inventory ages and the city expands.

The combination of Specialty Trees and those managed through this Service Request process means that 2% of the city’s entire tree inventory is presently being maintained within the existing Forestry Services budget. Assuming that service calls for inspection and trimming of city trees are received from different locations annually (which is not always the case) it is estimated that the majority of the City’s street trees are currently being maintained on a 42-year cycle. Such a reactive program does not allow for life cycle inspections or for any proactive trimming for the majority of the city’s established tree inventory.

Benefits and Value of Trees

The intensification of building and transportation infrastructure has made the maintenance, preservation, protection and planting of trees more essential and, at the same time, more difficult. Forestry maintenance in Ottawa has evolved over the years from a system in which no programming existed, to the implementation of informal programs, and has progressed to work within planned programs and by-laws that apply across the City.

Unlike a natural forest ecosystem where trees die and decay through a natural cycle, the public demands that every urban tree that the city plants or owns must be maintained and that it must grow and flourish as an amenity within their community.

This creates unique demands on Forestry staff since city trees are often planted in the most difficult of growing environments. Therefore, this green infrastructure must be nurtured and cared for above and beyond a privately owned tree in a backyard, to ensure the expectations of the city’s residents are achieved. This is one reason why an appropriate standard of maintenance of our trees and forests must be established and that our programs must manage and implement long term tree care programs that can be sustained over the lifetime of a tree. The provision of appropriate care today ensures that our trees and forests will be sustained for the benefit of future generations.

City trees are more than aesthetic amenities to our communities. They provide privacy, emphasize views, and even provide physiological noise attenuation along arterial roadways. They direct pedestrian traffic and frequently complement and even enhance architecture. They also increase property values by up to 15%, reduce crime and provide a multitude of other environmental, social and health benefits.

As such, municipal trees are assets and need to be managed like any other municipal infrastructure. Given that trees are the only living thing in our road allowances with the exception of ourselves, a tree inventory is more than just data management. Levels of service, tracking risk management potential, or disease and insect infestations and accident statistics are all vital pieces of information to Forestry staff as they manage the city’s investment in its green asset inventory.

It is important to note that unlike much of the civil infrastructure that the City of Ottawa maintains, the network of trees and forests throughout the City increases in both economic and social value over time.

Municipal trees can be evaluated using the International Society of Arboriculture’s Tree Valuation process. The valuation is recognized internationally and conveys a monetary value to a tree through consideration for the age, health, species and placement of a tree in the landscape. A 30cm (12in) diameter city tree in good health can easily have a value of $2,500. The city’s streetscapes can conservatively be valued in the millions of dollars with older more mature trees far exceeding this average.

A Life Cycle Approach

As discussed earlier in this report, although trees are important components within our community, many City trees are subjected to stresses that are unique to the urban environment and grow in areas where they represent a potential safety and liability issue for the city. Without regular corrective trimming, over time, a tree’s canopy may develop an irregular structure, which is susceptible to wind load and shearing during severe weather events. Tree branches growing over roadways or sidewalks can impede traffic flow or maintenance equipment and can obstruct construction and other improvement activities.

Trimming is desirable or necessary to remove dead, diseased, or insect infested branches, to improve tree structure, enhance vigor and to maintain public safety when branches impede traffic signals, signs and street lights. As we saw after the 1998 Ice Storm, those trees that had been regularly trimmed and that had a healthier branching structure were better able to withstand the ice loads the storm placed on our urban trees.

A proactive program of tree inspection and trimming program implemented in accordance with arboricultural best management practices, should be performed on average every 7 years. Such a program can eliminate hazards before they become a safety concern and can reduce the potential for liability to the city. A life cycle trimming program follows the same principles of a pavement management system, by applying resources on a regular basis the overall life span of the asset is preserved and the necessity to replace the asset can be avoided.

Past variations or reductions in trimming programs has resulted in a current maintenance program that encompasses all the activities related to the care of city trees in both urban and rural Ottawa, but which is only funded to a level of care that is well short of the industry standard for most of the city’s tree inventory.

A Future Direction

As previously discussed, the combination of trees maintained through the Service Request process and under the Speciality Tree program equates to only 2% of the city’s street and border trees.

By using the tree inventory data and applying a specific level of service it is possible to calculate the resource requirements for that inventory. The same methodology can also be applied using varying inspection cycles to calculate the additional resources necessary to achieve higher inspection or maintenance standards and to bring the maintenance cycle in line with a 7-year arboricultural industry standard.

It is estimated that to achieve this standard for the entire Established Tree inventory an addition of 5 Forestry Inspectors, 40 tree care workers, both staff and contracted services and the appropriate equipment would be required.

These resources represent the resource gap between a proactive Forestry and Life Cycle Inspection program and the existing reactive maintenance practices. To close this funding gap and to achieve the recommended arboricultural standard, a phased implementation is proposed.

It must be noted that this estimate does not reflect the ongoing increase in the tree inventory due to the development process and tree planting through major road reconstruction projects. An annual increase of approximately 10,000 street trees has been experienced since amalgamation. As the city continues to expand and these numbers augment, resource increases due to growth will be included in future budget submissions.

A Proposed Improvement Implementation Strategy

Table 4 outlines the estimated annual cost for a 5-year Improvement Implementation Strategy, which represents a total budgetary increase of approximately $5.7M and which includes a combination of staff, equipment and contracted services.

Table 4 – 5-year Improvement Implementation Strategy Budget Estimate

YEAR

RESOURCE

ESTIMATED COST

Forestry Operations staff

Capital Equipment

Fleet Operating Costs

Contract Services

TOTAL

$547,200

$94,000

$39,546

$385,000

$1,065,746

Forestry Operations staff

Capital Equipment

Fleet Operating Costs

TOTAL

$707,200

$330,000

$94,733

$1,131,933

Forestry Operations staff

Capital Equipment

Fleet Operating Costs

Contract Services

TOTAL

$547,200

$94,000

$43,504

$385,000

$1,069,704

Forestry Operations staff

Capital Equipment

Fleet Operating Costs

Contract Services

TOTAL

$707,200

$332,000

$122,879

$175,000

$1,337,079

Forestry Operations staff

Capital Equipment

Fleet Operating Costs

Contract Services

TOTAL

$547,200

$132,000

$58,607

$385,000

$1,122,807

5-YEAR PROGRAM TOTAL

Forestry Operations staff

Capital Equipment

Fleet Operating Costs

Contract Services

TOTAL

$3,056,000

$982,000

$359,269

$1,330,000

$5,727,269

Are Trees Worth It?

As previously discussed in this report there are 4 interrelated reasons for adopting a proactive Forestry and Life Cycle Inspection program:

· A Green and Environmentally Sensitive City

· Tree Health

· Facilitation of Maintenance

· Public Safety and Liability

In addition to these factors, the Adaptation and Impacts Research Group (AIRG) of the Meteorological Service of Canada at Environment Canada indicates that the Ottawa area is getting warmer, that severe weather events are on the rise and that average conditions are no longer average. Since the 1890s, global temperatures have shown an upward trend and the 1990s have been recorded as the warmest decade in recent history.

Events like the Ice Storm, or the microburst the west end of the city experienced in 2004, may become more commonplace. Such weather events and the damage they cause to our green infrastructure also causes the city’s trees to become more susceptible to other detrimental factors such as contamination by urban pollutants, drought or insect infestations.

The Trees and Forests Maintenance Program and the Maintenance Quality Standards proposed in this report are recommended as best management practices that will guide the city in the future maintenance and management of its urban and rural forests. This report also recommends a phased 5-Year Improvement Implementation Strategy to allow the Forestry Services Division to close the existing resource gap through the adoption of a proactive Forest Inspection and Lifecycle Program for all city owned trees.

Established trees along roadways, in city parks and at city facilities must be adequately and efficiently maintained through a regular lifecycle program that is performed on a scheduled basis throughout the life of the tree. It is of greater benefit to the tree, provides a safer community and it is more cost effective over the long term to maintain trees using a lifecycle approach as opposed to performing maintenance activities on a reactive basis as a result of service calls from the public.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The recommended maintenance program and quality standards for city owned trees and trees in Municipal Natural Areas can be accommodated within the existing operating and capital budgets.

Subject to Council approval, that the operating and capital budget requirements to implement the Forestry Inspection and Lifecycle Program’s proposed 5 year Improvement Implementation Strategy as outlined in this report be included as part of the Department’s LRFP3 submission and be the subject of review as part of Council’s review and update of the City’s Corporate Plan in 2007.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Document 1 Trees and Forests Maintenance Program

Document 2 Maintenance Quality Standards for Trees and Forests

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

In 2004 the City of Ottawa’s Department of Public Works and Services proceeded with a major study and public consultation process to examine consolidating, rationalizing and harmonizing park, sports field and tree maintenance standards. The development of the proposed maintenance quality standards also included a review of the standards of other comparable municipalities. The results of that study were included in an earlier version of the proposed quality standards when they were presented as part of the Maintenance Quality Standards – Parks, Sports Fields and Trees report to Health, Recreation and Social Services Committee on 20 October 2004.

Real Property Asset Management Branch; Infrastructure Services Branch; Planning and Infrastructure Approvals Branch; Planning, Environment, Infrastructure and Policy Branch and the Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee participated in the development of the revised proposed strategy and their comments, both from an urban and rural perspective have been incorporated into the report.

DISPOSITION

Following Council approval, the Public Works and Services Department will implement the Trees and Forests Maintenance Program and the Trees and Forests Maintenance Quality Standards as outlined in this report.

Following Council approval the operating and capital budget requirements to implement the Forestry Inspection and Lifecycle Program’s 5 year Improvement Implementation Strategy will be included as part of the Department’s LRFP3 submission and be the subject of review as part of Council’s review and update of the City’s Corporate Plan in 2007.

Document 1

TREES AND FORESTS MAINTENANCE PROGRAM

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Benefits of Trees and Forests

Trees are important and distinctive features within our cities. Their benefits to our daily lives and their contributions to the well being of our communities are well recognized. Trees provide social, cultural, environmental, economic, health and aesthetic benefits to both urban and rural communities. Trees offer shelter and shade from the elements; whether they are moderating heat along urban streets or sheltering farmhouses from winter winds. Trees, such as those in city plazas and urban parks, provide much needed natural features in our urban communities. They also become distinctive rural landmarks in the form of hedgerows between agricultural fields and gateways to our rural mainstreets.

Trees are well known to increase property values and moderate temperature thus reducing heating and cooling costs. Collectively, trees in the urban and rural forests become natural air and water filters. They define the spaces that we live in and move through, and their aesthetic beauty has a great impact on the quality of life in our City.

1.2 Trees and Forest Maintenance in Ottawa

The City of Ottawa is particularly unique among major urban centres across Canada in that it is made up of both urban and rural communities. As such, our city has both urban and rural forests. The city-owned urban forest consists of individual trees along streets, in urban plazas, urban wooded areas, ravines, parks, and at city facilities. In contrast, Ottawa’s rural forest is made up of tree communities in large forests, hedgerows, and along riparian corridors.

The maintenance of trees in the City of Ottawa dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. Prior to 1800, the Ottawa area was heavily forested however, when the City of Ottawa was formed in 1855, very few trees remained.

The first City by-law pertaining to trees was passed in 1869, which provided twenty-five cents to residential property owners who properly planted a tree. Even in these early years, guidelines for tree planting included a minimum tree size, spacing and setback from streets. Over time the growing trees came into competition with the infrastructure of paved streets, sidewalks, and overhead utility wires, and citizens campaigned for professional municipal management. As a result, in the early part of the twentieth century, the municipality took increasing responsibility for tree trimming and tree removal. In the 1960s concerns about declining tree cover led to a renewed emphasis on tree preservation, protection and planting. (Dean 2005)

Although on a larger scale, today the maintenance of trees and forests in the City of Ottawa deals with much the same issues as were faced in the last centuries. The intensification of building and transportation infrastructure has made the maintenance, preservation, protection and planting of trees more essential and, at the same time, more difficult. Forestry maintenance in Ottawa has evolved from a system in which no programming existed, progressed to the implementation of informal programs, and has matured to work within planned programs and by-laws across the City.

1.3 Amalgamation and Harmonization

With the amalgamation of the eleven former municipalities and regional government into the new City of Ottawa in 2001, there was a need to harmonize various programs and by-laws related to the maintenance, preservation, protection and enhancement of city-owned trees and forests. The tree maintenance programs across the former municipalities and region varied with respect to service levels, tree planting and maintenance policies, and the people responsible for these programs. Harmonization ensures that programs and maintenance standards are consistent throughout the new City in our rural, suburban, and urban communities.

Joanna Dean, "Said Tree is a Veritable Nuisance": Ottawa's Street Trees, 1869-1939," Urban History Review 34,1 (Fall, 2005).

2.0 MANDATE

The maintenance, preservation, protection and enhancement of the city’s 257,000 street and park trees and 10,000 hectares of forested land falls under the responsibility of the Forestry Services Division of the Surface Operations Branch in the Public Works and Services Department.

The Forestry Services Division is made up of Registered Professional Foresters, Landscape Architects, Forestry Inspectors, Certified Arborists and Tree Workers who are dedicated to maintaining the city’s trees and forests. Collectively, they are responsible for the direction of strategic planning, design, and implementation of maintenance, preservation, protection and enhancement programs and policies for city-owned trees and forests.

The Division also acts as a liaison with the community for all tree related issues and is responsible for the promotion and public awareness of our trees and forests. This is accomplished through the distribution of brochures and fact sheets, the release of special advisories, and community outreach activities.

In addition to the provision of forestry-related services to the public, Forestry Services also provides advice and technical expertise to, and collaborates with, other City of Ottawa Branches such as Parks and Recreation, Infrastructure Services and Approvals, Planning and Growth Management, Real Property Asset Management, and By-law Services.

It must also be recognized that city-owned trees and forests form part of a greater continuum of green space within the limits of the City of Ottawa. Along with the City’s operations on municipal land, private, provincial, and federal landowners play an important role in the management of the entire population of trees and forests within the city limits. Forestry Services provides assistance to and collaborates with external partners such as the National Capital Commission, local Conservation Authorities, the Province’s Ministries of Transportation and Natural Resources, and private landowners for the responsible management of the city’s urban and rural forests as a whole.

3.0 MISSION STATEMENT

The Surface Operations Branch is responsible for delivering operational surface maintenance and emergency activities required for the road network, municipal property, greenspace and forest cover. The Branch conducts regular monitoring and maintenance programs that extend the service life of the road and sidewalk transportation system, its infrastructure and the park and forest assets.

The unique combination of urban and rural landscapes in the City of Ottawa poses challenges to the maintenance, preservation, protection and enhancement of our City’s trees and forests. The strategy for maintaining these assets ranges from the protection of the urban street tree growing in a harsh environment to the enhancement of our rural forests which provide wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities.

A broad framework of programs, services, strategies, policies, and by-laws are used to manage the City’s urban and rural forests. These include a variety of programs relating to individual tree and Municipal Natural Area maintenance, protection, preservation and enhancement with both internal and external partnerships.

3.1 Goal

The goal of the Trees and Forests Maintenance Program is to illustrate the operational framework within the City of Ottawa maintains, preserves, protects and enhances city-owned urban and rural forests.

The Trees and Forests Maintenance Program is an integral part of a broader framework of strategies that relate to the green infrastructure in the City of Ottawa. The Official Plan (2003) and the Environmental Strategy (2003) provide strategic direction in the areas of growth management, the provision of infrastructure, the maintenance of environmental integrity and the creation of liveable communities. The Greenspace Master Plan (under development) and the Forest Strategy (under development) provide strategic direction for the City’s system of linked greenspaces and the urban and rural forests, respectively. The Trees and Forests Maintenance Program provides the tools, in terms of programming, by which the principles of these higher-level strategies can begin to be implemented.

3.2 Objectives

The City’s objectives for the urban and rural forest as set out in the Official Plan and the Environmental Strategy are realized in part through the Trees and Forests Maintenance Program.

Trees and forests in the City of Ottawa are maintained preserved, protected and enhanced in order to accomplish the following objectives:

Maintenance

To maintain the environmental integrity of our urban and rural communities through:

§ the maintenance of forest cover and treed areas; and

§ the maintenance of natural features to sustain natural systems.

To create liveable communities through:

§ the maintenance of greenspaces, which includes trees, to enhance the attractiveness of the city for residents and businesses.

Preservation and Protection

To maintain the environmental integrity of our urban and rural communities through:

§ the preservation of good air quality and the moderation of climate change;

§ the conservation of provincially and locally significant forests;

§ the protection of the City’s rural and urban forests’ natural features that serve a variety of functions including the provision of wildlife habitat, temperature moderation, natural cleansing and filtration of surface water (which reduces runoff and increases groundwater recharge) and carbon sequestration (carbon sinks); and

§ the protection of cultural heritage landscapes which includes heritage trees.

Enhancement (Tree Planting and Reforestation)

To provide infrastructure to ensure that road corridors function as public spaces through:

§ the provision of street trees to improve the natural environment.

To maintain the environmental integrity of our urban and rural communities through:

§ the enhancement of forest cover and treed areas;

§ design provisions for energy conservation which includes the use of trees for shade from sun and shelter from wind;

§ the provision for the needs of a variety of wildlife including seasonal habitats and linkages; and

§ the provision of linked migration routes, which include trees and forested areas.

4.0 MAINTENANCE

The City of Ottawa’s mandate to maintain the urban and rural forests in good health provides benefits to the environment and enjoyment for our communities. The provision of appropriate care today will ensure that our trees and forests will be sustained for the benefit of future generations. Unlike much of the infrastructure that the City of Ottawa maintains, the network of trees and forests throughout the City increases in both economic and social value over time. It is for this reason that the proper maintenance of trees and forests must be considered in terms of decades. The impact of maintaining healthy urban and rural forests today will have its greatest impact on generations to come.

Given that the urban environment differs greatly from a typical rural forest setting, there are unique challenges when caring for urban street trees. Trees in nature frequently contain dead wood, either as a result of insect attack, disease or injury. A percentage of dead wood has a minimal effect on the health of the tree however; dead branches in urban areas must be removed through a tree-trimming program either for safety or aesthetic reasons. Reconstruction projects and competition in rights-of-way for growing space also have a significant impact on the health and longevity of mature urban trees, which are becoming increasingly difficult to replace as our cities become more and more developed.

Within the Forestry Services Division, individual tree maintenance is accomplished under the Tree Maintenance Program and the maintenance of tree communities is accomplished under the Municipal Natural Area Maintenance Program.

4.1 Tree Maintenance Program

The Tree Maintenance Program includes all activities related to the care of city-owned trees within the urban and rural forest on roadways, in city-owned parks and at City facilities.

Roadway trees are those within the city-owned right-of-way (ROW) located between the curb or road edge and the adjacent property line. This includes trees along residential, arterial, and collector streets as well as trees in medians. Trees in City-owned access ways, such as unopened road allowances and neighbourhood pedestrian connections are also included in the Roadways trees classification.

Parks & Facilities trees are those in city-owned parks and located on the property of city–owned facilities such as libraries, recreation facilities, municipal offices, and water treatment facilities. These may also include trees at facilities leased by the City depending on the lease agreement with the property owners.

Border trees are trees growing at the edge of wooded areas located adjacent to private property and along pathways or trails.

4.1.1 Lifecycle Maintenance

A proactive and properly resourced life cycle maintenance program will allow the City to achieve its operational objectives and provide the tools required to maintain the city’s forest cover at an appropriate level.

Lifecycle maintenance is the carrying out of maintenance activities on a scheduled basis throughout the life of the tree. The maintenance activity to be performed is based on the age of the tree and the interval between activities is set according to arboricultural industry standards. Lifecycle maintenance, such as regularly scheduled trimming, prevents future incidences of damage to trees from storms or insect or disease infestations by providing a strong structure, removing dead or unsafe limbs, and allowing light and air to penetrate the canopy.

It is of greater benefit to the tree and it is more cost effective over the long term to maintain trees using this lifecycle approach as opposed to performing maintenance activities on a reactive basis as a result of service calls from the public.

4.1.2 Regular vs. Enhanced Lifecycle Maintenance Regimes

Not all trees within the urban and rural forest require the same level of maintenance. Established trees along roadways, in city parks and at city facilities, so called normal growing conditions, may be adequately maintained through Regular Lifecycle Maintenance that would be performed on a scheduled basis. However the current Forestry budget does not provide for planned regular lifecycle maintenance for these types of trees. Sufficient funds exist to maintain these trees on a reactive basis only. Maintenance activities, therefore, are performed in order to respond to service calls to rectify sightline and health and safety concerns and to respond to emergency calls such as storm damage complaints but, does not provide for the routine maintenance of these trees on a scheduled or lifecycle basis. In 2005, Forestry Services responded to over 8,919 service calls requiring maintenance activities to trees (up from 5089 calls in 2001).

Other trees within the city require an Enhanced Lifecycle Maintenance regime due to harsh growing conditions, the age of the tree, the species of tree, the soil conditions in which they are planted, or the presence of structural supports in the tree. The current Forestry budget provides for the maintenance of these trees under a lifecycle regime in addition to the response to service calls to rectify sightline and health and safety concerns and to respond to emergency calls. The frequency of maintenance activities within this regime are based on arboricultural industry standards to provide adequate growth for trees growing under adverse growing conditions or for those young trees that need to establish themselves in their growing environment.

Table 1 describes the classifications of trees and the current maintenance regimes that are performed on these trees. The current maintenance standards for each tree classification are described in Document 2.

Table 1: Current Maintenance Regimes According to Tree Classifications

Tree Classification	Description	Current Maintenance Regime
Established Trees	· Planted for over 3 growing seasons and; · Tree is planted in an area that has a minimum of 9m² of open space (usually grassed) · Includes trees that are growing, at maturity, and in decline, in parks and wider rights-of-way away from environmental pollutants and at the periphery of natural areas.	Reactive Maintenance: Tree are maintained as required in response to service calls
Newly Planted Trees	· Planted less than 3growing seasons	Enhance Lifecycle Maintenance and Reactive Maintenance: Trees are maintained on a scheduled lifecycle regime and as required in response to service calls
Hard Surface Trees	· Planted in an area with less than 9m²of open space around the tree; and · Planting area is partially or completely covered by hard surface paving such as asphalt, concrete, or interlocking brick which may include a tree grate or tree guard; · Tree may be planted in a raised planter.
Trees in Sensitive Marine Clay	· Planted in a location that has confirmed presence of sensitive marine clay (see section 7.1)
Elm Trees	· Elm trees within the inventory for the Dutch Elm Disease program (see section 7.2)
Trees with Structural Supports	· Trees with cables and/or braces

4.2 Municipal Natural Area Maintenance Program

Municipal Natural Areas are those city-owned lands that are encouraged to evolve naturally with minimal human intervention. They are found in both urban and rural forests.

Municipal Natural Areas are used by the public for passive recreational activities however, encroachment sometimes occurs by adjacent landowners. For these reasons, the maintenance practices on these lands must take into consideration the intent to preserve these areas in their natural state while managing their use by the public.

There are three categories of Municipal Natural Areas that are described in Table 2. They are: Municipal Conservation Forests, Municipal Greenspaces and Community Woodlands.

Table 2: Municipal Natural Areas

Municipal Natural Area	Size	Location	Vegetation	Characteristics	Example
Municipal Conservation Forests	> 100ha	Rural area	Mostly treed	Often within a larger contiguous forested landscape	Marlborough Forest
				Often have significant natural environment values and management plans
				Provide a sustained wilderness experience
Municipal Greenspaces	Vary in size	Rural or urban area	May include both treed and open spaces	May be associated with stormwater ponds, slope stabilization, flood plains, parks, or leisure lands	Kilborn Greenspace, Carver-Caldwell Conservation Area
				Often provide linkages between greenspaces or green buffers to waterways or residential communities
Community Woodlands	> 2ha	Urban or near urban area	Mostly treed	Often isolated from larger contiguous landscapes	Monaghan Forest
				Readily identifiable by the surrounding community
				Provide habitat for urban wildlife

The Municipal Natural Areas Maintenance Program is mandated to ensure the health and integrity of the City’s urban and rural forests through responsible management practices.

As per the Official Plan (2003), the five Municipal Conservation Forests include lands that have environmental designations. These include Natural Environment Areas (NE) and Significant Wetlands South and East of the Canadian Shield. As well, portions of these lands have provincial designations as Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) or provincially significant wetlands. These properties contribute greatly to the environmental values in the City of Ottawa and therefore their maintenance, preservation, protection and enhancement is integral to the quality of the green asset infrastructure within the City.

Several of the forests have maintenance programs that are guided by resource management plans. These include objectives related to timber management, recreational activities and wildlife management. For those forests that do not have management plans, maintenance activities are implemented in accordance with good forestry practices. These practices include the proper implementation of harvest, renewal and maintenance activities known to be appropriate for the forest and environmental conditions under which they are being applied.

They must also minimize detriments to forest values including significant ecosystems, important fish and wildlife habitat, soil and water quality and quantity, forest productivity and health and the aesthetics and recreational opportunities of the landscape.

Within Municipal Natural Areas, but particularly in Municipal Greenspaces and Community Woodlands, in proximity to developed areas, maintenance practices are different depending on the level of use by the public and the proximity of the trees to adjacent private property. It is therefore appropriate to distinguish between interior and edge conditions in each of these areas. Table 3 compares the Edge Conditions and Interior Conditions within Municipal Natural Areas. Trees along the perimeter, or along the edge of interior trails require a higher level of maintenance than interior spaces. This is to ensure the health and safety of trail users as well as the protection of adjacent landowner assets. Interior conditions in Municipal Natural Areas are seldom used by the public and are, therefore, left to evolve naturally which requires minimal maintenance. The current maintenance standards for the Municipal Natural Areas are described in Document 2.

Table 3: Municipal Natural Areas- Interior vs. Edge Conditions

Conditions

Location

Level of Use

Proximity to Adjacent Property

Edge Conditions

· Property perimeter

· Edge of interior trails

Trails often used by the public

Perimeter or border trees often in close proximity to adjacent property

Interior Conditions

· Property interior

Seldom used by the public

Interior trees not in close proximity to adjacent property

4.3 Tree Maintenance Activities

Several tree maintenance activities are applicable to all trees regardless of their location. Those activities that are required to maintain trees to an appropriate standard in parks, at facilities, along roads or in the edge conditions of Municipal Natural Areas are categorized into Lifecycle Maintenance Activities, Safety Activities, Removal Activities, New Tree Care Activities, and Specialized Arboricultural Activities. Document 2 provides the current maintenance standards for each of these maintenance activities.

4.3.1 Lifecycle Maintenance Activities

As described in Section 4.1.2, lifecycle maintenance activities are currently performed on only a portion of the trees on city property. Funding is currently not available for lifecycle maintenance of established trees within roadways, parks, and at city facilities and therefore, maintenance activities are performed on an as-required basis. This Section provides a brief description of each of these activities.

Lifecycle Inspections and Evaluations

Lifecycle inspections and evaluations are carried out to determine if Safety or Lifecycle maintenance activities are required. Individual trees are evaluated for overall health, hazards, and required maintenance activities that would improve or maintain the tree in good health. Groups of trees in Municipal Natural Areas are evaluated for overall ecological health, hazardous conditions along trails and edges, trail obstructions and debris, and encroachments.

Trimming

Lifecycle trimming consists of the removal of dead, dying, diseased, interfering, objectionable, and weak branches as well as selective pruning to lighten branches and reduce wind resistance. When proper arboricultural practices are used, trimming promotes healthy and structurally sound growth. Debris from trimming is removed from the site.

Watering

Watering is essential to the survival of all trees. In addition to its critical role in physiological processes, water provides the means for the transport of mineral and nutrients through the plant. During periods of severe dry weather, established trees require watering to prevent decline. Watering has the potential to be the single contributing factor to the decline and death of young trees. Watering is scheduled during the growing season from May to October.

Fertilizing and Aeration

Fertilizer provides plants with essential nutrients required for optimal growth, which is particularly critical for new trees establishing to a new site but also for mature trees growing in hard surface conditions. Fertilizer may be applied to trees in two forms: granular or liquid. Granular fertilizer is typically applied to the soil surface and dissolves into the soil upon contact with water. Liquid fertilizer is water that contains fertilizer. It is either applied to the soil surface or injected underground into the root zone through the use of a probe. When a probe is used for fertilizing it also serves to aerate the soil. Aeration reduces soil compaction thus, increasing the ability of water and air to permeate the soil.

4.3.2 Safety Activities

Trimming for Hazards, Sight Lines, and Clearances

Conditions that are hazardous or are obstructing sight lines or clearances above roadways or sidewalks are identified both through lifecycle inspections and through service calls from the public. Trimming to remove hazardous conditions is generally completed within 24 hours from the time of inspection. Sight line or clearance obstructions, which may pose a potential hazard, are also trimmed within 24 hours of inspection. Where appropriate, debris from trimming shall remain in Municipal Natural Areas for nutrient recycling or wildlife habitat.

4.3.3 Removal Activities

Tree Removal and Stumping

In terms of the maintenance activities conducted by Forestry Services at the expense of the City and as per the Municipal Trees and Natural Areas Protection By-law (No.2006- 279), the removal of a tree on city-owned property may only be authorized if the tree is dead, dangerous, diseased, dying, decayed or broken. Tree removal is done as a last resort once all other means of keeping the tree healthy and hazard free have been considered. Once a tree has been removed the stump is also removed. In certain circumstances a portion of the stump may be left standing as wildlife habitat in Municipal Natural Areas and debris from the removals in this area is left on site to decompose naturally. Brush is left on site in such a manner that it does not contribute to a risk of forest fire.

Stumping consists of grinding a tree stump, to which the crown and trunk have previously been removed, to below ground level. This activity includes site reinstatement that includes the removal of debris and replacement to grade with topsoil and application of grass seed of the stumped area. Stumping is generally not performed in Municipal Natural Areas unless the remaining stump poses a safety risk

4.3.4 New Tree Care Activities

Watering

As per Lifecycle Activities (section 4.3.1)

Fertilizing and Aeration

As per Lifecycle Activities (section 4.3.1)

Mulching

The application of mulch helps regulate soil temperature, reduces moisture loss, aids with weed control and is aesthetically pleasing when applied to soil around a young tree. Mulch may take several different forms however shredded bark mulch is typically used by the City of Ottawa.

Rodent Protection

It is common for rodents to chew on the bark of young trees. This girdling of the tree restricts water movement in the plant and may contribute to the decline or death of the tree. Plastic tree wraps protect the tree trunks of young trees from rodent damage and are installed at the time of planting.

Wrapping of Conifers

Conifer trees are susceptible to desiccation in the winter from wind or salt spray. Where conditions are appropriate, wrapping young conifer trees with a protective cover such as burlap is very effective in protecting the trees during the winter months. These covers are installed in late fall and is removed in early spring.

Removal of Supports

A newly planted tree will often establish more quickly and develop a stronger trunk and root system if it is not supported. However, supports are effective to secure new trees in windy sites, on hillsides or in situations where added stability due to root loss at the time of planting is required. If deemed necessary, a support, in the form of a wooden stake or guy wire, is installed at the time of planting. These are removed after the establishment period (3 growing seasons).

4.3.5 Specialized Arboricultural Activities

Inspection and Repair of Structural Supports

In cases where a tree is in decline but is not yet a safety hazard, structural supports in the form of cables and braces, are installed in the canopy to stabilize branches that may have weakened over time or which have a poorly formed branching structure. Supports are also used to secure large heavy limbs. The City of Ottawa maintains an inventory of approximately 990 trees (2006) that are cabled and/or braced. These trees are inspected annually to ensure that the cables and braces remain intact and continue to be effective.

Inspection and Repair of Grates, Guards, Planters, and Watering Tubes

Trees planted in urban areas may have tree grates over the soil surface to support the sidewalk or tree guards around the trunk to protect the tree. As well, some trees are planted in raised planters where underground utilities have prevented in-ground planting. Grates, guards, and planters require inspection for damage and routine maintenance such as painting or structural repairs.

Many trees planted in hard surfaces and trees included in the Trees and Foundation Program have watering tubes installed next to the tree to facilitate the direction of water directly to the root zone of the tree. These tubes require maintenance to ensure that they do not fill with debris and remain functional.

Pest and Disease Control

The City of Ottawa has a pesticide policy, which prevents the cosmetic use of pesticides on City property. The Forestry Services Division does not use chemicals to prevent or eliminate pests in city-owned trees. The only exception under the policy is where the pest or disease may lead to the death of a tree. Chemicals have been used in exceptional circumstances where public safety may be a concern i.e. wasp nests is trees and the 150 large diameter white elm (Ulmus americana) trees in the City’s Specialty Tree inventory (See Section 7.2 - Dutch Elm Disease Program)

4.4 Management Activities- Municipal Conservation Forests

Several management activities are applicable solely to Municipal Conservation Forests. These management activities are outlined in the approved 20-year Resource Management Plans for each of these Forests. The plans identify a series of goals, objectives, and strategies for the forests that Forestry Services manages.

The two primary goals for these forests are:

1. To maintain and enhance the long-term health of the forest ecosystem for the benefit of all living things while providing environmental, economic, social, and cultural opportunities for the benefit of present and future generations; and

2. To contribute to the environmental, social and economic well-being of Ontario through sustainable development of natural resources.

One component of the 20-year plans is management activities that are reflected through five-year work plans, which identify specific activities that must be done to accomplish the goals of the overall plan. Some of the operational items that have been identified to achieve these goals, include individual tree maintenance, sylvicultural, or thinning, operations and wildlife and recreation management. The work plans also outline the maintenance of non-natural resource items such signage, parking lots and adequate access to users. Refuse clean up and land use issues are also activities that fall within the realm of these forests’ Resource Management Plans.

One objective within the Resource Management Plans is to develop and maintain a healthy forest with a diversity of vegetation and wildlife as well as to protect and maintain the integrity of the forest. With respect to forest management, a specific objective is to demonstrate responsible integrated forest resource management. This is achieved by implementing the appropriate management techniques in the appropriate forest block. In order to attain these goals, specific operational activities relating to Resource Management and flora and fauna management have been identified and are implemented.

4.4.1 Resource Management Activities

Wood Fibre

The forested portions of the Municipal Natural Areas are composed of both natural forests and plantations. As part of the forests’ lifecycle, the removal of certain trees is required to decrease the density of the stands, especially in the plantations. Thus, one component of the management plans includes the management of these plantations in accordance with good forestry practices.

This is identified in the Resource Management Plans through detailed operating plans that divide the forests into compartments, or areas, with a detailed work plan that identifies the specific on-site activities over a five-year period. A component of this plan identifies a thinning regime, or harvesting plan for the trees, also known as a sylvicultural prescription or an operational plan. This intervention reduces competition and provides much needed growing space for the remaining trees and ultimately results in a healthier forest ecosystem. As the plantations are opened up, other species such as oak and maple begin to grow in the openings and start the process of returning the area to its original mixed hardwood ecosystem, a process that develops over a timeframe measured in decades.

Forests that do not have resource management plans shall be managed in accordance with good forestry practices. This is defined as the proper implementation of harvest, renewal, or maintenance activities known to be appropriate for the forest and environmental conditions under which they are being applied and that minimize detriments to forest values including significant ecosystems, important fish and wildlife habitat, soil and water quality and quantity, forest productivity and health and the aesthetics and recreational opportunities of the landscape

Natural Features

All Municipal Conservation Forests contain features or areas of significance. For example, there are Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI’s), Significant Wetlands and other ecologically significant areas located as parcels within the city’s forested property. According to the forest’s Resource Management Plans, the goal is to protect and maintain these natural areas within the forests for their role in the landscape as well as the integrity of their fragile sites and wildlife habitats. As an example, the Marlborough Forests contains significant wetlands, which are maintained for their role in regional water storage, and the Torbolton Forest contains the Constance Bay Sand Hills ANSI. To achieve the above-mentioned goal, maintenance activities are minimal usually confined to safety concerns along the perimeter and no management activities will be conducted that are detrimental to the features of these areas.

4.4.2 Flora and Fauna Management Activities

Wildlife Fields

Certain fields and openings have been set-aside in some of the forests and have been designated as wildlife fields. These areas have not been planted with trees. Accessible fields are improved for grazing by deer, grouse and other wildlife and are mowed annually in early spring to encourage the growth of herbaceous vegetation.

Beaver

There are numerous culverts located along the main and secondary access roads of the forests. Each culvert is cleared of debris annually to allow the water to flow through freely. If this problem persists, beaver bafflers may be installed as an additional preventative measure. Beavers whose activity are threatening property damage are relocated in accordance with provincial regulations.

Waterfowl

Ducks Unlimited (DU) created and manages various water impoundment projects throughout the Municipal Conservation Forests. These projects are carried out under an agreement between DU and the City of Ottawa. They were constructed to improve habitat for ducks and geese but they also benefit other waterfowl through the creation of open water ponds.

Significant Plants

Locations of significant or rare plants have been identified in some of the forests. Through site inventories, management regimes have been developed to maintain the habitat of these plants. Management for these plants is done on a site-specific basis which takes into account the soil, topography, level of trail use, potential seed bank and the nature of the significant plants. If specific studies have not been performed on a certain forest, the management of these plants is conducted according to the Resource Management Plan for the property.

4.4.3 Hard Asset Activities

Maintenance activities in the forests not only include those pertaining to natural resources but also the installation and lifecycle maintenance of hard assets such as gates, information kiosks, signage, and boardwalks. One of the goals in the Resource Management Plans is to provide for an adequate degree of protection from fire and nuisance animals. Access gates, signage and information posted in kiosks help in achieving this goal. Gates are installed and closed during fire season, information in the kiosks can be updated as required, and signs can be posted to advise people of wildlife sightings.

Access Gates

All gates located in each of the forests are inspected and painted annually or as required. During the spring freeze/thaw cycle, on occasion, some of the gateposts will uplift from the soil and will require re-alignment. New hardware is occasionally required as the old hardware breaks and/or malfunctions. In conjunction with Police and Fire Services site restrictions in some areas are occasionally identified. As concerns arise, the purchase and installation of new gates may be required.

Information Kiosk

Information kiosks are currently located in four of the forest’s parking lots. Routine inspections are conducted to identify damage from vandalism. Rehabilitation work is performed on an as required basis.

Boardwalks/Footbridges

Boardwalks and footbridges are inspected annually and rotten or broken boards are replaced as required. Approximately 70 meters of trail along the Cedar Grove Trail in Marlborough Forest currently requires replacement. The structure currently in place was installed in the early 1970s and today the boardwalks are unstable and in some cases pose a safety issue. As one of the objectives of the forest is to provide for a reasonable degree of safety for the public, the phased replacement of this boardwalk is implemented under the forest’s operating plan.

Signage

Public safety can be increased in the forests through the use of signage; namely safety signage or regulatory signage. Interpretive signage is the third type of signage used throughout the forest and contributes to the goal of developing and implementing an interpretive plan for the forests. These signs are used throughout the forests and are inspected and maintained annually.

Safety signage is required for emergency services so they can maneuver through the forest and coordinate their activities. This includes the identification of access points off major roads as well as directional signage within the forest. Safety signage also includes signs that indicate the risk of forest fires for a particular day, as well as wildlife sightings for such animals as the black bear. It also includes decals that are put up along hiking trails so the public does not get lost during outings or hunting.

Regulatory signage is also a component of forest maintenance as it is a tool used to advise the public of occurrences such as closed access areas and non-acceptable uses within the forest such as littering and ATV use.

The third type of signage is interpretive signage. These signs are typically installed in parking lots, along trails, and at other important features and may advise users of the ecological importance of an area. For example, the Cedar Grove Trail (Roger’s Pond) in the Marlborough Forest is a prime location for such interpretation. There are numerous natural features in and around the pond that could be depicted via interpretive signage. This helps promote the area and increase awareness of the ecological importance, which would contribute to the Resource Management Plan goal of developing and implementing an interpretive plan for the Marlborough Forest. Interpretive signage is currently installed in partnership with local forest users, the Marlborough Forest Consultation Group and the Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee.

4.4.4 Parking Lot Activities

Snow and Ice Control

Some of the forests have designated parking lots, which are used year around by various recreation groups. These parking lots are not winter maintained although user groups plow some areas.

Resurfacing

As with road maintenance, parking lot maintenance includes filling in potholes and re-grading of the surface annually. This activity is necessary to keep the parking lots in good repair to provide safe and aesthetically pleasing parking for use by the public.

Litter Pick up

Maintenance of the parking lots includes routine removal of trash and debris from the area and its periphery. Litter pickup is also done along the forest access roads and the recreational trails within the forest as well as within the interior of the forest where required.

4.4.5 Vandalism and Refuse Activities

Illegal Dumping

Illegal dumping occurs in both the designated parking lots and within the forest itself. This debris is picked up by Forestry Services staff and disposed of properly. Due to the remoteness of the forests stolen vehicles are also found in many of the Municipal Natural Areas. If this occurs, the Police Services are contacted and advised of the incident and the vehicle is removed from the site.

Community Clean-Up

Forest cleanups occur annually, usually in the spring, by local interest groups such as local snowmobile associations. These cleanups are done under the auspices of the city’s Spring Cleaning the Capital program. Garbage bags, gloves and large metal trash bins are supplied to the groups and the refuse is then picked up by City Staff.

4.4.6 Forest Access Road Activities

The road access system in the forests is made up of a network of roads consisting both main and secondary access roads. Main access roads are those roads that have been identified by Emergency Services requiring mandatory access to specific parts of the forest. Secondary access roads are not mandatory from a fire access viewpoint however; they do provide access to other areas of the forests valued by recreational users. Road upgrades are necessary not only for emergency access but also to achieve the objective to provide a reasonable standard of access within the forest for the enhancement of its recreation value and to facilitate management activities.

Main Access Roads

With direction from Fire Services, the main access road network has been identified and a phased upgrade in implemented annually under the operating plan. The remainder of the network receives regular, annual maintenance that includes pothole repair and re-grading.

Secondary Access Roads

Secondary access roads have been identified with the aid of the Integrated Resource Management plans. These roads are upgraded in a similar manner to the main access roads on an as required basis.

4.4.7 Land Use Activities

In order to encourage outdoor recreation various user groups and individuals are given permission to use the forest when their activities are compatible with both the natural environment and identified forest values. Groups such as the local snowmobile associations, camping groups or individuals conducting scientific research can contact the City for permission to use the forest for their various activities. To minimize resource use conflicts between different user groups and local residents and to maintain the integrity of these natural areas, License of Occupation Agreements and Consent to Enter Permits may be issued in accordance with the Resource Management Plans for the forests.

License of Occupation Agreements

The City of Ottawa’s Real Property Asset Management (RPAM) Branch is responsible for issuing License of Occupation Agreements for non-exclusive use of the forest pertaining to such activities as snowmobiling, and military training. Collaboration with the Forestry Services Division is ongoing to ensure the uses of the forests are consistent with the management objectives of the forests.

Consent to Enter Permits

Consent to Enter Permits are issued by Forestry Services and are similar to a License of Occupation Agreement in that they are for non-exclusive use of the forests. Permits are issued primarily for more passive activities such as scientific research and allow city staff to track the various activities that occur in the forests.

5.0 PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION

The protection and preservation of the City’s trees is integral to the maintenance of a healthy urban and rural forest cover that is both diverse in age and species. Trees are very susceptible to construction damage and may be compromised as a result of the development process.

Tree preservation refers to the retention of individual trees or stands of vegetation on lands that may be impacted by development or construction. Tree protection refers to the measures used to reduce the impact of construction on trees that have been deemed worthy of preservation.

The City of Ottawa has several by-laws, which deal with the protection of the urban and rural forest. In addition to these by-laws, Forestry Services plays a role in the preservation and protection of trees and Municipal Natural Areas through comments made through the internal circulation process and through site inspections of capital works.

5.1 By-Laws

The harmonized Municipal Trees and Natural Areas Protection By-law (No.2006-279) is the primary document dealing directly with city-owned trees in the City of Ottawa. Several other City of Otttawa by-laws have sections which deal with specific issues concerning green infrastructure. These by-laws include the Road Activity By-law (No. 2003-445), Parks and Facilities By-law (No. 2004-276), Encroachment By-law (No. 2003-446), Use and Care of Roads By-law (No. 2003-498), and the Property Standards By-law (No. 145-98).

5.1.1 Municipal Trees and Natural Areas Protection By-law (No.2006-279)

The Municipal Trees and Natural Areas Protection By-law of the City of Ottawa addresses the maintenance, preservation, protection and enhancement of trees and forests on municipal property. This by-law has been harmonized from the by-laws of the former municipalities. It is all encompassing and includes boulevard and road allowance trees, park trees, Municipal Conservation Forests, Municipal Greenspaces and Community Woodlands. The harmonized by-law was extended to incorporate not only infractions dealing with trees within the urban area but all aspects of ecosystem management including land usage, recreation, and the protection of flora and fauna.

5.2 Preservation and Protection of the Urban Forest

The Forestry Services Division is an integral part of the approvals process for site plans and Capital Works projects. All plans are reviewed to determine if appropriate tree preservation and protection measures have been proposed. This process usually requires on site visits with consultants, the applicant and other city staff. Ongoing site monitoring and inspections throughout construction are conducted to ensure that adequate tree protection measures are in place and that tree preservation is compliant with the approved plans. This stage may also require unscheduled site visits if there has been a public enquiry or complaint with regards to the site operations.

Trees in the urban forest are primarily impacted by infill development in urban areas of the city. The City of Ottawa’s Official Plan (2003) sets forth policies to preserve and protect vegetation on municipal and private property that may be impacted by the site plan process.

Forestry Services has developed standard tree protection specifications that outline the various measure s that must be implemented during construction to minimize the damage to existing trees. In addition to these specifications, Forestry Services has produced Tree Protection brochures, which describes the impact of construction on trees and the various methods to protect individual and stands of trees.

In those instances where tree preservation is unavoidable, tree replacement or compensation is required. As such, all applications for site plan approval must be accompanied by a Tree Preservation and Protection Plan as well as a Landscape or Streetscaping Planting Plan. These plans are required at the time of application to ensure the design has maximized the appropriate opportunities for tree retention and outline tree protection measures.

In addition to infill scenarios, trees may also be impacted by Capital Works road construction or by reconstruction projects on municipal property. These types of projects most often have the greatest impact on older city-owned trees in urban locations. Tree preservation and protection in these situations is critical to maintain a healthy age distribution of trees in the urban forest. As with the site plan process, tree retention and protection is required.

Where tree preservation is not feasible, replacement and compensation for tree loss is required. As per the Municipal Trees and Natural Areas Protection By-law (No.2006-279), Forestry Services staff evaluates the trees identified for removal and calculates the value of the trees in accordance with the International Society of Arboriculture Tree Valuation Guidelines. The applicant is required to pay this amount plus the value of a replacement tree to the City of Ottawa. Monies received from tree compensation are directed in the tree-planting budget for tree replacement plantings.

5.3 Preservation and Protection of the Rural Forest

Trees in the rural forest are primarily impacted by the sub-division development in suburban or rural areas of the city. As in the urban areas these plans of sub-division also require the submission of Tree Preservation and Protection Plan as well as a Landscape or Streetscaping Planting Plan. The trees on suburban or rural lands are part of the larger context of the rural forest and therefore, are most often considered in terms of the preservation of vegetation communities as opposed to individual tree retention.

The Forestry Services Division receives plans of sub-division from the Planning & Growth Management Department and reviews these plans for appropriate proposed tree preservation and protection measures. During the construction process, ongoing monitoring is conducted through site inspections to ensure all tree protection measures are followed according to the approved Tree Preservation and Protection Plan. As with Site and Capital Works projects, tree replacement or compensation may be required where tree retention is not feasible.

6.0 ENHANCEMENT

In 2001, Council approved several programs that make up the new City of Ottawa’s Tree Planting Programs. The Trees in Trust Program and the Urban Tree Island Program involve partnerships with residents for tree planting. Local interest groups may receive assistance with tree planting initiatives through the Community Partnership Tree Planting Program and the Commemorative Tree Program continues to exist as established in the former City of Ottawa.

Other tree planting initiatives to enhance the urban forest are carried out as part of City of Ottawa Capital Works projects and through tree plantings in existing City parks and at city-owned facilities. The rural forest is enhanced through the Green Acres - Rural Reforestation Program and the Alternative Snow Fence Program that advocate tree planting in rural areas on private property. Tree planting is also accomplished through the development process and through specialized tree planting initiatives that arise from time to time.

6.1 Trees in Trust Program

The Trees in Trust Program was established in 2001 to enhance tree cover on residential streets. Residents may request a tree to be planted by the City of Ottawa on the road allowance in front of their home if they are willing to commit to watering the tree for the establishment period. Forestry Services will ensure that the appropriate species of tree is selected for the site and provide information on aftercare to the resident to ensure the long-term survival of the tree.

6.2 Urban Tree Island Program

Urban street trees generally have a shorter lifespan than their rural counterparts. They may suffer damage from environmental pollutants or from operational and construction equipment. They typically lack physical growing space and soil permeability. The Urban Tree Island (UTI) Program was developed in 1996 by the former Region to address core urban areas where municipal road allowances offer no greenspace for tree planting other than that owned by the adjacent property owner. Under the UTI Program, Forestry Services will consider planting a tree on the adjacent private property if the property owner commits to maintaining the tree in its planted location.

6.3 Commemorative Tree Program

The Commemorative Tree Program was first established at the City of Ottawa in 1989. Through this program, the City shall assist families or groups who wish to have a tree planted in a City park in remembrance or commemoration of the loss of an individual. City staff will work with the participants in the program to select an appropriate location and tree species. The City will purchase, plant and maintain the tree for the three-season establishment period with 100% cost recovery from the participants.

6.4 Community Partnership Tree Planting Program

The Community Partnership Tree Planting Program was established by the former RMOC in 1999 after the Ice Storm. The mandate of this program is to improve and enhance the existing urban or rural forest cover in the City of Ottawa. Tree planting projects on private or public property will be considered if an agreement can be established that will ensure the success of the planting and affirm a commitment to long-term maintenance. Grants are available to community groups, schools, or other non-profit organizations. Since 2001, the Community Partnership Tree Planting Program has worked with more than 70 partners city -wide.

6.5 Capital Works Tree Planting

With the intent to enhance street tree planting in the City of Ottawa, Council ensures that planting is part of all Capital Works projects. As such, tree planting is advocated for all road construction and reconstruction projects. The financial commitment for trees and maintenance for the establishment period shall be provided by the individual budget for each project.

Although the majority of these projects are large in scope and are completed through a landscape contract at the end of construction, Forestry Services works collaboratively with Infrastructure Services to implement smaller projects. Since 2001, Forestry Services has planted an average of 65 trees per year to enhance Capital Works projects throughout the City.

6.6 Parks & Facilities Tree Planting

The City of Ottawa takes advantage of planting opportunities within existing City parks and at city-owned facilities. Both new and replacement trees are planted to enhance and maintain the green infrastructure within the City. Requests for tree planting are made both internally, from City staff, and from the public.

6.7 Development Process Tree Planting

The requirement for subdivision and site plans to include a planting plan ensures that new trees are being planted each year through the development process. These trees are installed through landscape contracts at the end of construction and are typically maintained under these contracts for 2 years. Once the maintenance contract has expired and municipal portion of the landscaping has accepted by the City, all trees planted on municipal property fall under the responsibility of the Forestry Services Division for maintenance.

6.8 Green Acres- Rural Reforestation Program

The Green Acres- Rural Reforestation Program was established by the former Region following the Ice Storm to enhance the rural forest cover within the City of Ottawa. The program partners with private landowners to provide advice and assistance for tree planting on their properties. Funding is provided on a cost shared basis to a maximum of a 50% of the project budget. This program is coordinated through the Landowner Resource Centre and managed by the Environmental Management Division of Planning and Growth Management Services. On average, 100,000 seedlings are planted annually under the program in partnership with local Conservation Authorities.

6.9 Alternative Snow Fence Program

The Alternative Snow Fence Program began at the former Region in 1996 as a pilot project to investigate the use of trees or corn as alternatives to traditional snow fencing. In subsequent years, the program was expanded and to date has proven to be an economical way for the City to provide a safer driving surface during winter months while promoting tree planting on private property. Assistance is provided to those landowners wishing to plant trees or leave standing corn as windbreaks along their fields adjacent to the roadway.

6.10 Special Projects

From time to time, special projects are developed which provide opportunities for tree planting on both private and public property. One such initiative for 2005 was the 150^th Anniversary Tree Planting Program. This program was developed to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of the City of Ottawa and accomplished the planting of 150 trees city wide in partnership with community groups and schools to commemorate the anniversary.

Forestry Services is proactive in pursuing opportunities for tree planting which may not fall within a specific tree-planting program. Many external grants or funding programs exist which may assist in the planting of trees in the City. For example, yearly community plantings in the Alta Vista area have been generously supported by Earth Day Canada and donations from area residents. This community planting project has been supported by Forestry Services twice a year for the past three years, has grown to include over 300 volunteers, and to date has accomplished the planting of close to 10,000 trees.

7.0 ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Several support programs within Forestry Services have been developed to assist with the responsible management of the trees and forests in the City of Ottawa. The Trees and Foundation Damage Strategy (Fall 2005) has evolved as a result of a relatively unique soil condition in the Ottawa area that necessitates different management practices from the norm.

From time to time, the infestation of a pest or disease requires a specialized response to mitigate or prevent serious detriment to city-owned trees. The Dutch Elm Disease Program helps to protect significant elm trees from such an infestation.

Other initiatives include the Tree Inventory Program and the Forestry Outreach Program, which focuses on public awareness & promotion. Both are essential to support the management of city-owned trees and forests.

7.1 Trees and Foundations

Ottawa is situated on clay soils deposited at the time of the last ice age when receding glaciers formed the Champlain Sea. As a result, many buildings have been constructed on fine-grained sensitive marine clays (commonly referred to as leda clays) that shrink and swell according to their water content.

Although foundation damage can be caused by many factors it can sometimes occur as a result of soil shrinkage in close proximity to the structure through differential settlement, or shrinkage, of the surrounding soils. Recent studies confirm that, dependent upon site conditions, trees can have a contributing role to the foundation damage however, in most cases there are a combination of factors working together that result in soil shrinkage and differential settlement of foundations.

In 1997, the former City of Ottawa conducted a comprehensive review of how it addressed the issue of trees and foundation damage. At Council’s direction Forestry Services undertook a review and assessment of the City’s current standards, policies and procedures in 2005. This review focused on the maintenance and preservation of the City’s urban forest and the City’s policy for the removal of healthy trees that have been found to be contributing factors to foundation damage as a result of differential soil settlement.

The review, along with a thorough and continuing technical investigation, has lead to the development of a revised Trees and Foundation Damage Strategy that Council approved in the Fall of 2005. The strategy provides the city with a set of tools, including policies, procedures, best management practices and mitigation measures, that will be used by the City of Ottawa to deal with the issue of trees and foundation damage. It includes both corrective measures, that address problems caused by existing conditions, and preventative measures that protect against future problems.

7.2 Dutch Elm Disease Program

Dutch Elm Disease (DED) is caused primarily by a fungus that is transmitted from tree to tree by elm bark beetles. If established, this disease can lead to the rapid decline and death of the tree in almost 100% of cases. The City of Ottawa has an ongoing fungicide injection program for significant American white elm trees (Ulmus americana) to control DED. Approximately 150 trees are in the inventory of elm trees that receive treatment on an annual basis. The inventory consists of significant elm trees over 50cm in diameter located on city-owned property.

7.3 Inventory Program

A tree inventory is an essential tool to assist in the management of the urban and rural forests. The accurate recording and updating of information allows fir more efficient and economical management of assets.

An inventory assists with the distribution of resources where they are needed the most and aids with setting priorities for the future. Tree inventories, in particular, are beneficial to use when selecting appropriate tree species to maintain diversity in the street tree population and can be used as a communication tool when dealing with property owners.

7.3.1 Street and Park Tree Inventories

The City of Ottawa has three broad based tree inventories that were created under the former Municipalities that serve as useful tools for the management of the urban and rural forests today.

Former City of Ottawa Tree Inventory

The former City of Ottawa’s street tree inventory was created in the 1980s and includes information on the species, size, location, and maintenance regime for city-owned street trees. This inventory is updated on an ongoing basis.

Former Village of Rockcliffe Park Tree Inventory

The street tree inventory for the former Village of Rockcliffe Park was initiated by the Rockcliffe Park Village Association. This inventory was updated in 2003 and includes species, size, and location of the trees.

Former Region Tree Inventory

The former Region street tree inventory includes tree species, size and GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates for trees along the arterial roadway network. It includes information on individual trees as well as continuous rows of trees that line the road allowance.

Park Tree Inventory

In 2003, Forestry Services compiled an inventory of single standing tree in City parks. This inventory includes the location, size and if the tree is deciduous or coniferous.

Currently, the City of Ottawa does not have a centralized, all-inclusive, computerized tree inventory for municipally owned street, park and facilities trees. This information would be invaluable to the management of the urban and rural forest by facilitating more accurate projections for lifecycle maintenance requirements, human resources, and resource allocation.

7.3.2 Program Specific Tree Inventories

In addition to the street tree inventories, several program specific tree inventories exist for the City of Ottawa. These inventories include information such as the species, planting date, locations, and size of trees that have been planted through various Forestry Services Programs. They include:

· Trees in Areas Known to Have Sensitive Marine Clay (updated annually)

· Dutch Elm Disease Program Inventory (updated annually)

· Commemorative Tree Inventory (updated annually)

· Community Partnership Tree Planting Program Inventory (updated annually)

· Urban Tree Island Inventory (updated as required)

· 150^th Anniversary Tree Inventory (special 2005 initiative)

7.3.3 Municipal Natural Area Vegetation Inventories

Several inventories have been created to assist in the management the Municipal Natural Areas throughout the city. Many of these inventories are not specific to trees and may include information on various types of vegetation such as rare plants. They include:

· Torbolton Forest Rare Plant Inventory and Management Recommendations (2004)

· Vanier Sugarbush Forest Inventory (2004)

· Monaghan Forest Inventory (2004)

· Monaghan Forest Interpretive Plan (1990)

· Life Science Inventory of Parts of the Marlborough Forest (1985)

7.3.4 Other Forestry Related Inventories

The Forestry Services Section maintains operational inventories that assist with the maintenance of the urban and rural forests. They include:

· Tree Cables and Braces Inventory (updated annually)

· Tree Grates and Guards Inventory (updated annually)

· Trees with Watering Tubes (updated annually)

7.4 Forestry Services Outreach Program

Communication between the City of Ottawa and its residents, contractors, community organizations, and interest groups is essential to increase public awareness and appreciation for our City’s trees and forests.

Forestry program brochures and fact sheets, special advisories, and community outreach activities provide residents with a greater understanding of the City’s Forestry Programs and current issues related to trees and forests. Public awareness and promotion is aimed at providing best management practices for the maintenance, protection, and planting of trees, encouraging participation in City programs, providing insight into Forestry’s operational procedures and offering guidance to the resolution of tree-related problems which may affect our daily lives.

7.4.1 Brochures and Fact Sheets

Forestry Services has a series of brochures and fact sheets, which describe programs and other useful information related to trees and forests. Brochures and fact sheets are distributed to the public via Forestry Services staff, the seven Client Service Centres, the Ottawa Forest and Greenspace Advisory Committee (see section 8.0), the City’s website, local conferences and through one-on-one contact with the public.

The current listing of brochures and fact sheets include:

Brochures

Fact Sheets

· New Tree Care

· Tree Trimming Program

· Tree Protection Guidelines

· Green Acres- Rural Reforestation Program

· Alternative Snow Fence Program

· Trees and Foundation Damage

· Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee

· Commemorative Tree Program

· Community Partnership Tree Planting Program

· Trees in Trust Program

· Watering Your Tree

There are also several Forestry Services Brochures and Fact Sheets that are currently being developed that will assist with the Outreach program.

Brochures

Fact Sheets:

· Marlborough Forest

· Cedar Grove Trail

· Torbolton Forest

· Vanier Sugarbush

· Monaghan Forest

· The Right Tree in the Right Place

· Hard Surface Tree Planting Guidelines

· Landowner Bulletin: What you need to know about sensitive marine clay and your foundation

7.4.2 Special Advisories

Keeping the public informed of potential risks to trees is crucial to maintaining a healthy urban and rural forest. For this reason it is beneficial when a potential risk arises, to enlist the assistance of the general public to help in the maintenance of their private trees as well as city-owned trees. Special advisories are used to alert the public and provide guidance on how they may assist the City in maintaining trees.

Watering

Extremely warm temperatures with little precipitation impose stress on trees that can lead to a decline in health and possibly death in some species. In order to keep the City’s trees healthy, it is beneficial during hot, dry summers to remind the public how to care for newly planted and established trees. A watering advisory has been produced which provides guidance to the public on how, when and how much to water a tree. This advisory is published as necessary throughout the summer months in the local media and on the City’s website.

Infestations

From time to time, it is necessary to advise the public of possible insect or disease infestations that may have a detrimental effect on the health of the urban and rural forests in Ottawa. Presently, for example, Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and Asian Longhorn Beetle (ALHB) have become serious concerns in Southern Ontario. Forestry Services maintains close contact with other municipalities as well as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and should they approach the Eastern Ontario region, an advisory would be issued to alert the public to the signs and symptoms of infestation in order to remain proactive to possible outbreaks.

7.4.3 Community Outreach

As a result of the City’s Tree Planting Programs, Forestry Services responds to requests from community groups for assistance with local projects that concern trees. This includes the development of vegetation management plans, educational talks to community groups or schools, coordinating community planting projects, and supervising the removal of invasive species from City property.

8.0 PARTNERSHIPS

Forestry Services works closely with various partners to accomplish the maintenance, preservation/ protection and enhancement of the urban and rural forests. The Division provides forestry-related services and technical expertise internally to other City of Ottawa departments and acts as a liaison externally to members of the community, government agencies, and hydro authorities.

Illustration 1 describes the various partnerships with Forestry Services that assist in the maintenance, preservation/protection, and enhancement of the urban and rural forests in the City of Ottawa.

Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee (OFGAC)

The Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee (OFGAC) was established in the fall of 2001 (formerly the Ottawa Forests Advisory Committee) to advise Ottawa City Council and provide a forum for citizens on issues related to trees and forests. A major component of the committee’s mandate is to promote public awareness of the role of greenspace and forests in protecting and enhancing quality of life. OFGAC provides a forum for citizens interested in forests and greenspace to raise issues and concerns. Forestry Services works closely with this committee to provide advice and guidance on municipal issues. The committee also works with local community groups and environmental organizations through workshops, an active outreach program and personal contact.

External Partners

Aside from internal stakeholders, professional association and other government and non-government agencies that contribute to the city’s greening efforts Forestry Services works with a diverse group of local residents and interest groups to plant and maintain trees in the city.

Schools and Interest Groups

The city continues to assist local School Boards and school councils in their regreening efforts. To date the city has also worked with 55 local schools to assist them in tree planting in local playgrounds. In addition, Forestry Services has also helped 36 other local interest groups on specific tree planting projects in their communities.

Major Stakeholders

Some groups have envisioned projects beyond planting a few trees and in some cases have assumed an active role in the maintenance of their community greenspaces. Since amalgamation the following groups have made an on-going contribution in this area towards the city’s efforts to enhance and manage its green asset inventory.

The enthusiasm and insight that each group brings to their own community initiative complements the city’s mandate of maintaining a clean and green city and their in-kind contributions have assisted in the expansion of their community projects beyond the funding available through the city.

· Belltown Neighbourhood Association

· Centretown Citizens Community Association

· Crystal Beach - Lakeview Community Association

· Environment Committee of Ottawa South (ECOS)

· Friends of the Carp River

· Friends of the Jock River

· Friends of Windsor Park

· Greeley Meadows Community Association

· L’Action Vanier

· Marlborough Forest Citizens Group

· Orlando Park Revitalization Committee

· Ottawa Fields Naturalist Club

· Queensway Terrace North Community Association

· Residents of Penfield Circle

· Riverview Park Community Association

· Rockcliffe Park Residents Association

· Scouts Canada

· Torbolton Forest Citizens Group

Activity	Frequency of Maintenance Activity
	Municipal Conservation Forests		Municipal Greenspaces and Community Woodlands
	Edge Conditions	Interior Conditions	Edge Conditions	Interior Conditions
Lifecycle Inspections & Evaluations	as per management plan	N/A	As required*	N/A

Activity	Frequency
	Municipal Natural Areas
	Edge Conditions	Interior Conditions
Trimming for Hazards	As required*
Trimming for Sight Lines and Clearances	As required*	N/A

Activity	Frequency of Maintenance Activity
	Municipal Conservation Forests		Municipal Greenspaces and Community Woodlands
	Edge Conditions	Interior Conditions	Edge Conditions	Interior Conditions
Tree Removal	As required*	As required*	As required*	As required*
Tree Stumping	As required*	N/A	As required*	N/A

Activity	Frequency
Inspection & Evaluation	at time of watering
Watering	up to 20x / season
Fertilization/ Aeration	2x / season
Mulching	1x (at time of planting)
Rodent Protection	up to 1x / season
Wrapping (conifers only)	1x / year (late fall)
Removal of Stakes	1x (end of 3^rd growing season)

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

Maintenance

To maintain the environmental integrity of our urban and rural communities through the:

Preservation and Protection

Enhancement (Tree Planting)

Current Tree Inventory

Pinery-Long Swamp Forest

It is estimated that to achieve this standard for the entire Established Tree inventory an addition of 5 Forestry Inspectors, 40 tree care workers, both staff and contracted services and the appropriate equipment would be required.

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Benefits of Trees and Forests

1.2 Trees and Forest Maintenance in Ottawa

4.0 Maintenance

5.0 Preservation and Protection

6.0 Enhancement

7.0 Additional Responsibilities

7.3 Inventory Program

7.4 Forestry Services Outreach Program

1.3 Amalgamation and Harmonization

Maintenance

To maintain the environmental integrity of our urban and rural communities through:

Preservation and Protection

Enhancement (Tree Planting and Reforestation)

Executive Summary

104.00 Removal Activities

105.00 New Tree Care Activities

106.00 Specialized Activities

Description

Standard

Service Level

Inspections and evaluations shall be carried out on a year round basis. Should the primary inspection occur during the winter months, it may be necessary to perform a second inspection once the tree has leafed out in the spring.

The frequency of lifecycle inspections and evaluations is defined in Table 102.01.01 for individual trees and in Table 102.01.02 for trees within Municipal Natural Areas.

Table 102.01.01: Lifecycle Activity – Inspections and Evaluations

Table 102.01.02: Lifecycle Activity – Inspections and Evaluations

Related Standards

None

Description

Standard

Service Level

Table 102.02.01: Lifecycle Activity – Trimming

Related Standards

Outcome

Description

Standard

Service Level

Table 102.03.01: Lifecycle Activity – Watering

Related Standards

Outcome

Description

Standard

Service Level

Table 102.04.01: Lifecycle Activity – Fertilizing/ Aeration

Related Standards

Outcome

Description

Standard

Table 103.01.01: Safety Activities- Trimming for Hazards, Sight Lines, and Clearances: Municipal Natural Areas

Outcome

Description

Standard

Service Levels

Table 104.01.02: Lifecycle Activity – Tree Removal

Related Standards

Outcome

Description

Standard

Service Level

Related Standards

Table 105.00.01: New Tree Care Activities

Outcome

Description

Standard

All elm trees within the inventory of significant City-owned elm trees shall receive fungicide injections to control DED. The DED inventory shall be updated on an annual basis.

Service Level

Related Standards

Outcome

Description

All trees within the inventory of trees with structural supports shall be inspected to ensure that the supports remain intact and continue to be effective. All repairs to structural supports shall be performed on a priority basis.

Service Levels

Related Standards

None