Albany is kicking off a program to support tree health in the city.
Mayor Kathy Sheehan says $3.6 million in city and federal funding will go toward trimming street trees over the next four years.
Speaking in Sacred Heart Park Tuesday, the third-term Democrat says it’s vital to ensure the continued health of Albany’s urban forest — which currently stands at more than 23,000 trees.
“As our planet continues to warm, trees are critically important in helping to lower temperatures, reduce air pollution, intercept particulate matter, intercepting rain, helping with our stormwater runoff. They are a huge part of the ecosystem and a huge part of what makes a city work,” Sheehan said.
Sheehan says the pruning effort continues ongoing efforts in the city.
“We've had to take out a lot of diseased trees, including right here. A number of Norway and silver maples that used to line this street have reached the end of their life. They've succumbed to disease, and so those trees have needed to be removed. But when we remove those trees, the second priority is to ensure that we replace them,” Sheehan said.
Sheehan adds 40 new trees are being planted on Water and North 1st Streets this month to do just that. While only a quarter of the trees marked for trimming are going to be addressed each year, she says that will be spread city-wide.
Department of General Services Deputy Commissioner Frank Zeoli says only certain sizes of trees are being targeted.
“These trees are trees that are going to be trimmed, that have a DBH- diameter breast height- that exceeds 12 inches,” Zeoli said.
Street trees marked for trimming this winter are concentrated along Central Ave, through Pine Hills, Whitehall, Woodlawn, between the University at Albany and Eagle Hill Cemetery, Arbor Hill, and the South End.
The city completed its plan to plant 2025 trees by 2025 last year. Sheehan notes the city is also supporting an Adopt-A-Tree program to encourage residents to spruce up their front lawns.
Each type of tree on the city’s list, ranging from crabapple to sweetgum and varieties of oak, is available for $300, half to be paid by the planter and half by the city.
Unfortunately for tree saps, maples aren’t on the list. More than half of the city’s canopy was made of them as of 2008, with Norway maples making up more than a third of the whole. The city says that runs against best management practices, which suggest having no more than 20 percent of any genus, and no more than 10 percent from any one species.
Sheehan says the city’s attitude toward maintaining its canopy has changed over the years.
“We have had the issues with the ash borers, with some of the different types of maples that we have. I mean, there are some trees that are better suited to street life, as we've learned over the years. You know, we learned that some of the things that we did, for example, when we used to do sidewalk replacement, that we were actually injuring the roots of trees,” Sheehan said.
Lida Aljabar is Senior Director of the Catalyst Initiative of American Forests, a D.C.-based organization devoted to protecting and restoring healthy forests. She says caring for the trees ties into racial justice efforts.
“Communities of color have, on average, 36 percent less tree canopy than white communities and are on average 13 percent hotter. And communities of the lowest income have 26 percent less tree canopy and are six degrees hotter,” Aljabar said.
Trimming will run between November and April each year.
