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HAMMITT Bob <br /> From: PLAMONDON Scott F <br /> To: NATHANSON Nancy L <br /> Cc: BERRIAN Pam C; BELLMORE Mike; HAMMITT Bob; MEDLIN Johnny R <br /> Subject: Tree City USA Award /Flags /More Trees <br /> Date: Thursday, July 17, 1997 1:55PM <br /> Hi Nancy, sorry to take so long to get back to you but as I'm sure you can understand things have been <br /> real busy in terms of trees for the last couple of months. <br /> I'm excited about some of your ideas because I agree that additional public education is needed and I'm <br /> always happy to see ways to get new trees planted. But I'm also concerned about how Urban Forestry <br /> doesn't have the staff resources to be as proactive in these forward looking issues as I want to be. <br /> Regarding ideas for our Tree City USA Award Flags, 1 think it is a good idea to use these flags to help <br /> inform our community of the Citys' outstanding urban forestry program. I'd be real interested in seeing <br /> what people can come up with. As you were aware we had given a number of these flags to schools and <br /> instead of asking for the return of flags we ordered additional flags from the National Arbor Day Foundation <br /> and we now have a full 19 which can be displayed. We don't have poles on which to mount the flags, but <br /> if desired I suspect we could provide them for people to use in a parade. <br /> With only myself and Mike Bellmore working out of the office in Urban Forestry, I do not have the staff <br /> resources to make this a proactive program where we would initiate citizen contact. However, I can make <br /> these flags available to civic groups or volunteers for such as parades and other special events on an per <br /> request basis. The Maintenance Division is working to add a second volunteer coordinator to our volunteer <br /> services program who will be targeted on parks issues. It is my hope that our NeighborWoods program can <br /> obtain a small measure of assistance once this is implemented. <br /> I'm also interested in ideas to generate additional funding sources for public trees. Perhaps the concept of <br /> people donating funds to help plant trees can be developed in association with our NeighborWoods <br /> program and can be made a part of the larger volunteer services program. These trees could be planted in <br /> parks, along streets and on other City owned properties. There are national programs like "Adopt a Tree" <br /> that can be used to get ideas for the implementation of a similar program in Eugene. I wouldn't see any <br /> problem with us currently accepting donations for tree planting and then sending them some form of <br /> certificate of recognition of their donation. <br /> A concern I have with the approach of taking donations for the planting of a specific tree is the fact that <br /> currently we are not able to provide long term maintenance for all of our street and park trees. A potential <br /> source of upset would be for someone to donate funds for a specific tree and then in future years see the <br /> tree poorly maintained due to budget constraints. If we were to explore the possibilities of actually <br /> tagging the tree to identify it as being the result of a specific donation, it would be desirable also to include <br /> a mechanism which would ensure long term maintenance. <br /> As with many other good ideas which have been passed along, the greatest barrier to moving forward has <br /> been our limited staff resources. With the many tree issues which seem to constantly arise and the large <br /> number of trees we are already responsible for, our Urban Forestry Program is stretched to simply keep <br /> "putting out fires ". We are working hard to educate people on the large difference in what seems to be <br /> the public's expectations of Urban Forestry and our abilities to respond. <br /> Our number one priority at this time has been to get started on a pilot project to start a street tree <br /> inventory. It is very hard for us to manage our trees when we do not know how many there are, where <br /> they are, how many of what species, and anything about their condition. I believe this is the greatest <br /> current need in our Urban Forestry program for the expenditure of Road Fund monies. In the same light we <br /> don't have any forest management plans for our very important natural areas. Because this is a General <br /> Fund need, we have not been able to achieve any progress. We hear a great amount of concern from staff <br /> and citizens alike on this, especially when we have issues come up like the current need for removal of <br /> hazard trees at Hendricks park. <br /> I look forward to working with your and others you may pass our way to see what we can get <br /> accomplished. <br /> Page 1 <br />