Greetings from the Tree Department.
Lots has happened since my last update. Please see below a review of 2022. Myself and my small but dedicated crew want to thank you for your support. Without donations for tree planting we could not possibly plant the future of Fairhaven’s tree canopy. We can’t prevent trees from dying and decay which produces risk to the public. What we can do with your help is to replace those lost trees that we have to remove to maintain public safety. Donations can be made out to: Memorial Tree Gift Fund, 40 Center Street, Fairhaven, MA 02719
2022 Annual Report Fairhaven Tree Department
The Fairhaven Tree Department is headed by an elected Tree Warden and staffed by two “per diem” tree laborers. The total budget for the Department including the Tree Warden’s stipend is under $90,000.
In 2022 the Tree Department created a mission statement which is “To Preserve, propagate and maintain a safe, diverse and healthy tree canopy for the town of Fairhaven.”
A letter of understanding was drafted and approved by the BPW, Police Department and Tree Department on how tree emergencies are reported after 9-5 hours Monday through Friday.
In 2022 the tree department planted 100 new trees of varying species and size. Half of these were planted in public parks and the other along the town’s byways. The majority of the work done to plant these trees was done by volunteers. This brings to a total of 185 trees planted since April 2021. Watering efforts during the summer drought prevented widespread loss of new plantings and only one was lost. Vandalism claimed two new trees in Livesey Park this fall.
A statistical analysis of the number of trees along the towns 110 miles of public roads was performed using 10.2 miles of byway as a data set. 597 trees were counted on a diverse set of byways providing us with a total estimated canopy of over 6000 pubic shade trees.
A systematic shade tree survey has been initiated in an effort to reduce the number of storm related power outages, damage to property and road blockages by identifying high risk trees. Once identified the trees are surveyed and appropriate mitigation methods were implemented to mitigate risk. These methods conforming to ISA A-300 standards and removal being the last option considered.
83 requests for service by residents were received, recorded and acted on. 39 dead, diseased or high risk trees were removed. This represents less than 1% of the town’s total tree canopy. This number is dramatically lower than that of cities and towns that have proactive public shade tree policies and related programs.
A 3rd party consultant was engaged to do what’s most likely the first ever in town formal level 3 tree survey which entails scientific methodology that utilizes state of the art diagnostic instrumentation and data metrics to establish risk level of a particular tree. This event was utilized as a training session as well as data collection event.
Thank you,
Don Carlos Collasius, Town of Fairhaven Tree Warden
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Click here to download the entire 1/19/23 issue: 01-19-23 Title5Mtg
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