A large, flat stump is all that’s left of a once-grand maple tree on Fourth Street West, and its loss has prompted one family to encourage the neighbourhood to be more involved in the town’s tree business.
Sofie Ohrling and her father, Dave Ohrling, with their family have put together a petition to protect the town’s tree streets.
The petition states Collingwood is currently working on an Urban Forest Management Plan, and asks the town to use the plan to prioritize healthy, mature trees already in place. Dave filled out the online survey as part of the town’s public engagement on the development of the plan.
The Ohrlings have lived on Fourth Street West for 16 years, and have seen a few of the larger trees on the street be taken down.
One large sugar maple that stood in front of their house was the most recently removed.
Dave said an evening storm took out one of the branches from the tree and the next morning a crew was on-site to remove the tree.
“I would say it was a landmark. In the fall it would go a brilliant orange,” said Dave.
Adam Ferguson, a spokesperson for the Town of Collingwood, said the limb that fell from the tree damaged a vehicle and sidewalk.
“A certified arborist completed a tree assessment, noting the tree as hazardous given its decaying/dead limbs and internal condition,” said Ferguson in an email.
The town does have a certified arborist on staff in the public works department, and his work in the spring and summer is dedicated to the town’s trees including performing inspections, maintenance, pruning and removal.
While Dave and Sofie acknowledged the town has to remove hazardous trees, and no tree lasts forever, they didn’t understand why it had to come down so quickly and without notice.
“I think it was the suddenness of it,” said Dave. “Before we knew it, the tree was coming down … I think if we were told this is what needed to be, we would have had time to absorb it and ask questions.”
The Ohrlings counted the rings on the tree, and guess it was about 125 years old. Their house was built in 1894, so they assume the tree was planted around the same time.
“These large, mature trees are all going to fall eventually,” said Dave. “I think they need to be looked at as assets, not liabilities.”
With one more tree gone, and this one close to home, the Ohrlings want to focus on a way forward.
“I think the most important thing is that something good comes of this,” said Sofie, who will be entering Grade 12 at Collingwood Collegiate Institute in September. “The town should allow people to have a little more say in what happens. I think it’s a real asset to have these trees in the neighbourhood.”
She and her sister, Heidi, set up the petition and placed it on the tree stump about a week ago. They have approximately 140 signatures.
In addition to seeing more of their neighbours supporting and being involved in the town’s urban forest management plan, Dave would like to see more communication and co-operation between the town and residents on taking care of existing trees and helping new ones grow.
“Part of this is to make people aware the town is doing this,” he said. “I’d like to see the plan put in place, and for it to be forward-thinking recognizing mature trees as assets, not liabilities.”
He’s not expecting town staff to do all the work, though.
“It’s obvious the town needs resources to maintain an urban forest,” said Dave. “The citizens need to be engaged to help maintain it.”
He wants to see people in his neighbourhood watering new trees on boulevards, and he hopes more citizens will engage by reporting when they see damage or signs of disease in the trees on town-owned boulevards.
According to Ferguson, the town is implementing a new communications protocol by introducing doorknob hangers with information about tree maintenance and removal notifications. The hangers will be added to the doors of residents adjacent to the affected tree.
The town will replace a tree that has been taken down, but this is done through the Parks, Recreation, and Culture department, and director Dean Collver said replacement is usually done at the request of a resident.
Collver said the department has a list of boulevards where they can plant trees and each year they try to go through it to pick places for a new plant.
This year, an anonymous donor has come forward to offer the town 1,000 trees to be planted where they deem fit.
Collver said that will give his department more options for tree planting in the short-term.
As for the role of residents, he said a tree is most vulnerable in the first year, so a little help from a nearby homeowner to water it and keep an eye on its progress goes a long way.
Collver said the town’s Urban Forest Management Plan is due to come to council in September.
The Ohrlings plan to present their petition to council soon, and they’ll be working out a way to get a new tree to replace the sugar maple on the boulevard.
