 |
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
City Council adds $200,000 to urban forestry efforts
Seattle's neglected street trees and urban forests will get more attention next year.
A budget boost of nearly $200,000, approved Monday by the City Council, allows the city to hire an additional arborist and intensify efforts to make the Emerald City greener.
"We need to plant more trees, and we need to have those that we've got taken care of," City Councilwoman Jean Godden said.
For years, the urban woods have been largely ignored, receiving little maintenance except when they threaten public safety.
The assumption was that wooded parks and greenbelts could fend for themselves, but invasive weeds and abuse from people have taken a toll.
"It's a significant problem we are up against here," said Duane Penttila, horticulture manager with the city's Department of Parks and Recreation. More must be done to "reverse the trend of losing our forests at a pretty rapid pace."
About $3.5 million will be spent next year on the city's entire urban forest -- from the sidewalks to the parks.
The new arborist will be the city's third -- responsible for tending to 40,000 publicly owned street trees. In the past, when one of the existing two is sick or on vacation, work stops because arborists must be deployed together for safety reasons.
The backdrop to all of this is a long-range plan being drafted to restore the health of Seattle's woods.
The Urban Forest Management Plan is being developed by a multiagency team and will be released for public comment in the spring. It sets goals for tree-canopy cover -- the amount of the city covered by trees. Forested parks, for example, will likely aim for up to 80 percent cover while downtown blocks could be around 15 percent.
The budget increase will also support a new requirement to have two trees planted for each one removed from city property.
A project is also under way to save the forested parks from invasive plants, largely with volunteer labor.
The effort is being led by the non-profit Cascade Land Conservancy and the city.
My web site
My Yahoo!
Google
 Day in Pictures Odd little fish and more |
 David Horsey That old sinking feeling |
 Amazing Animals Photos from the past week |
· Building a better townhouse
· School superintendent reflects on first year
· Grocery bag fee proposal gets warm reception
· New dance fad is stepping out
· Chopp's House holds up homeowners' rights
· Radiation treatment with a new twist
· Sound Transit giving is questioned
· Port takes step to sell Pier 48 to the state
· Court asked to require pharmacists to dispense Plan B
· City responds quickly to Greenwood graffiti
· Health care push gets a $25 million kickoff
· State will run top-two primary
more· Vancouver WA excavation company to pay back wages
· Man surrenders in WA toddler abuse case
· Jackson's 17 lifts Storm over Monarchs
· Duchscherer leads Oakland past Seattle
· Seattle Sounders beat Kansas City Wizards 1-0
more· Polygamist Warren Jeffs hospitalized in Las Vegas
· Alleged Maui church rock robbers face $3,000 fines
· Decision expected on endangered listing for mouse
· Cruise ship allowed to return to Juneau
· Obama criticizes Forest Service-Plum Creek talks
more
The Big BlogBy Monica Guzman and other P-I editors and staff
· Amanda Knox could be called to trial today
· Lost Woodland Park mural getting fixed!
· Sound off on plastic bag fee tonight
Strange BedfellowsP-I staff on Seattle politics
· Deadlocked in the 36th
· Obama: What's he up to?
· Rails-to-trails open houses
Seattle Real Estate NewsWith the P-I's Aubrey Cohen
· Return of the flippers?
· Sustained price drop rated unlikely
· Take my house, please
Seattle TrafficBy Reporter Larry Lange and other P-I staff
· Council members review Metro bus hike Wednesday
· Evergreen Point Bridge closes this weekend
· So, Seattle: So you need 4 more streetcar lines?
101 Elliott Ave. W.
Seattle, WA 98119
(206) 448-8000
Home Delivery: (206) 464-2121 or (800) 542-0820
seattlepi.com serves about 1.7 million unique visitors
and 30 million page views each month.
Send comments to newmedia@seattlepi.com
Send investigative tips to iteam@seattlepi.com
©1996-2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Terms of Use/Privacy Policy
