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The responsibility carried by the City of Eugene in the maintenance of trees <br /> located in the public ways is an illusive, yet a very real one. The actual <br /> ownership of the trees has been a point of question for as long as I can <br /> remember and will remain so until someone, probably the attorneys, is willing <br /> to make a determination. Regardless of when this question is answered and <br /> probably even how it is answered, the city does carry out the maintenance of <br /> mature trees located in the public way and, from what I have seen, has the <br /> ultimate responsibility for them. <br /> The city has been very fortunate, thus far, in the cases it has been taken <br /> into court with. Even that good fortune is jeopardized with the case <br /> currently being appealed in connection with the death on Jefferson Street. <br /> While we do not have an accurate inventory of trees lining our streets, an <br /> estimate is in the neighborhood of 100,000. Of these trees, 15% to 20% are <br /> trees that were planted in the late 1800's and early 1900's, giving them an <br /> average age of 100 years. Trees, like people, deteriorate with age, and like <br /> people, usually give us some tangible signs or symptoms of problems located <br /> below the surface. Ultimately these problems result in failure of the entire <br /> tree or at the very least a section of the tree. Failure, in this case, will <br /> result in the tree or the section of the tree breaking and falling to the <br /> ground. <br /> It is difficult to give accurate statistical data when we have no firm figure <br /> on the number of street trees we actually have. The estimate of 100,000 has <br /> been given and accepted by many over the past 10 years, including the current <br /> Urban Forester, Jan Staszewski. However, in an effort to eliminate the <br /> possibility of exaggeration, if we reduce that figure by one half and compare <br /> it the number of full time tree care employees we have as of this date, you <br /> can see exactly where we stand, as far as being able carry out a preventative <br /> tree maintenance program. <br /> # OF TREES # OF TREE CARE # OF TREES PER <br /> EMPLOYEES EMPLOYEE <br /> 50,000 5 10,000 <br /> Figures given to us in the Urban Data Service Report* are listed below and <br /> will give you some idea where we fall within the report. The total number of <br /> cities surveyed was 2,861 with 258 falling in the 50,000 to 99,999 population <br /> range. <br /> 1 OF TREES 1 OF TREE CARE # OF TREES PER POPULATION <br /> EMPLOYEES EMPLOYEE <br /> 66,573 11.5 5,789 100,000- 249,000 <br /> 42,921 6.3 6,813 50,000- 99,999 <br /> 18,702 2.9 6,449 25,000- 49,999 <br />