Trees important part of infrastructure

Richmond’s trees represent infrastructure, just like roads and bridges.

Thomas Hill, the city’s GIS coordinator, wants residents to one day pay as much attention to that green infrastructure as to the gray infrastructure. This summer, the city will pay more attention to the trees that provide shade, which lowers temperatures, reduces energy bills and benefits public health.

Hill updated the Environmental Sustainability Commission during its April 15 meeting about the benefits of participating in a cohort through Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute. McKinney Fellow Schelby Schlager will work 400 hours developing a tree risk management plan for the city’s leafy assets.

The commission — in collaboration with the city’s parks, infrastructure and development, and street departments, plus right of way permitting and Street Tree Commission — will work toward an urban forestry master plan. Hill said the city spends money on its urban forest, although more informally.

“What we’re trying to do is bring a little bit more attention to formalizing the program, putting together best-management practices and some of these things that work toward that urban forestry master plan,” Hill said.

The plan would prioritize maintenance on city-owned trees, then provide goals and an action plan to achieve those goals. Ideally, Hill said, someone would be in charge of the plan.

A task force will meet three times to discuss different aspects of the urban forest, ending with 25 high-quality trees planted in selected locations.

Alison Zajdel, a commission member and sustainability consultant, said planting high-quality trees makes a difference in their survival and ability to thrive. Hill said more than 200 trees have been planted across the past five years, but nearly 3,500 additional planting locations have been identified.

Currently, 9,008 trees have been inventoried in city rights of way, the parks and Richmond Sanitary District land, searching for problematic trees.

Hill said another $30,000 grant is possible in partnership with a faith-based organization. Acceptance could result in another 30 or so tree plantings.

During the meeting, the commission also discussed pollinator habitats, and member Skip Moore discussed plug-in solar panels he said are popular in Europe and gaining popularity in the United States. The simple panels offset some of the energy used by a household. Moore said the technology continues to develop.