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f --) ) 9 ' ',4_, ,, -..a.. u Ct. 0--,611-4_ ,../1-t?..-LAN-.1)- V-1-- f ---1.—k Jan. 13, 1997 From: Stanton A. Cook ' , ic"-% • a2 , ` 1832 Longview Ave. To: Budget Committee Subject: Urban Forestry Program Ladies and Gentlernen, I wish to offer some comments about the document, "Urban Forestry," which is being considered by you. My qualifications for speaking are these: I have lived in Eugene for 36 years as a gardener, taught a course in terrestrial ecology at the University for about that long, studied forest dynamics, and been involved with other citizens in husbandry of Hendricks Park. • I suffer from ignorance, about the structure and emissions of the City's departments; however, I have a few opinions that may be useful. First, the Mission (p 1) of the department and closely related Outcomes (p 1) and Core Processes (p 3) appear not to be consistent with the name "Urban Forestry" nor to be consistent among themselves. Forestry implies a forest. A forest is more than trees, it also includes moss, herbs, shrubs, understory and overstory trees as well as animals, and microbes. Most especially the "natural forest areas (p 1)" must be rnanaged as ecosystems. The document contains the following sentence at the very end of page 2: "Effective Management is difficult without understanding the components of the asset. Analysis of an ecosystem entails identifying its components and all their interactions. With this knowledge, one can attempt to describe the growth or ontogenetic processes of the whole system. So, please introduce the concept of ecosystem forest management into the policies of the program. Ecosystem management should be one of the Core Processes of the System Map (p 3). Ecosystem management plans should be drafted for each of the prominent � forest types (cf. cool moist north -facing slopes with Doug fir and Grand fir, etc.; Ash males in the • Amazon Basin; Riparian forest along the Willamette River). A forest is a dynamic system which is best considered a dynamic mosaic of patches of sundry ages according to how long succession has proceeded in these patches. Trees die, open the canopy to sun-requiring species. These persist for a while and ultimately shade- tolerant shrubs and trees occur in a gap until the openness of the gap is renewed by the death of these latter species. The species diversity of the forest system depends on such dynamism. The natural forests should be managed so as to achieve diversity of gaps and species. Since your document uses the word "natural," I assume that you are referring to native and so, indigenous species of plants. Introduced aggizssive weedy species are rapidly overrunning the upland, lowland, and riparian forests of Eugene. Consequently, your program should have as a goal the elimination of invasive exotic species as well :4s prevention of future invasion. For example, Spencers Butte Park and its roadsides are being overrun by ivy and blackberry. Hendricks Park is being inundated by ivy. Some native species have no opportunity to migrate into the fragments of natural landscapes that are left in the City. For example, ...the Grand Fir that is at the north slope of . Spencer's Butte can not be dispersed by squirrels to Hendrick's Park. Ecosystem management . plans. might include active planting of native species into the natural forests. This will enrich • species diversity as well as esthetic and educational value of the landscapes. Ecosystem management can also attend to the particular considerations of the vegetation at the margins (and, thus, ecotones ) of the natural forests. For example, many houses lie adjacent to these lands. They are liable to fire spreading from the natural lands or trees falling from them. Perhaps low- growing broad- leaved species are most appropriate for such margins - willows, alder, dogwood, etc.? Finally, there is another way of rectifying the shortcomings of this document and the program it describes: remove all reference to natural forest or landscape. Place natural forest management overtly in the Mission Statement of the Parks Division of the Public Works Department.