Or, the local government can invest the funds needed to trim and plant trees.
My hometown of Minneapolis has always had a healthy fund for tree maintenance. They aggressively cut down sick elms in the 70s before they could spread Dutch Elm disease, thus the city has retained a large number of mature elms. Additionally, the city has a policy of planting two trees for every one that they cut down.
The result is that Minneapolis has many streets that are like forested tunnels of mature trees. DC has some excellent mature trees as well, but it also has a much more lenient climate than Minneapolis.
As a tall guy (6' 2"), I definitely have to duck branches more often then I should...
Here, I don't think the problem is funds for planting, because of the independent Casey Tree Fund, which got $50 million I think to plant trees in DC.
But definitely there is an issue with maintenance, at least in NW neighborhoods, as well as Brookland...
Well, the great thing about the Minneapolis forestry program is that they're so aggressive at cutting down sick trees. It's painful to lose a big, mature tree, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
That includes trimming branches.
Virginia Tech offers a citizen forestry course through the Arlington Extension office. It is intended for civic associations and people who are into parks.
On the one hand it is good to have the knowledge to be able to diagnose and take care of minor issues in your neighborhood. On the other hand, there is only so much you can do with regard to certain maintenance issues without the proper tools, and the scale of work to be done is really outside what a volunteer corps can do.
On the plus side it does help foster relationships between civic associations and city arborists or other municipal contacts. In my neighborhood I've been the go-to guy for street tree issues and have helped coordinate maintenance issues to the city aborist office. I've also organized the planting of about 45 street tree, the most important task (and most challenging) is trying to recruit nearby residents to take on commitments to watering.
I've got a good relationship with the arborist, and he has been very favorable to us because he knows his budget and the investment won't be wasted because we try to demonstrate that we have good follow-thru and stewardship.
Casey Trees can be pretty lame. They'll plant all they can, sure (oh, and the ornamentals, not the big canopy trees). But they won't water them, and so they are forced to come back in and remove them when they die.
People just say "casey trees," and voila there's your tree policy taken care of.
But like everything, it takes a depth of knowledge, big time commitment and follow-through. It takes a "champion." Sorry, I hate that word, but just saying casey trees does not a tree policy make.
The city needs improvement in this area, without a doubt.
End of rant.
In doing the 2009 Transportation Vision Plan blog entry, I thought about including urban forestry, since that is part of DDOT, but I think I won't get to it.
In any case, urban forestry, composting, agriculture needs to be considered in a coordinated fashion (but not part of the TVP).
Unfortunately in DC urban forestry is under the Dept of Transportation.
It's too bad, but there it is.
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