Townsend’s Community Forest Part 8
 | Author:
Patrick Plantenberg, Tree Board Chair
Townsend Tree Board Chair, Townsend Rotary Club |
Townsend’s Community Forest Part 8 Patrick Plantenberg Tree Board Chair Note: This is the eighth in a series of articles from the Townsend Tree Board reporting on the status of the community forest in Townsend.
Two weeks ago, we discussed how we have enhanced the condition of the trees in our urban forest in Townsend over the last 33 years. The Tree Board is actively trying to maintain Townsend’s public trees in good condition to minimize the city’s liability in case of a tree failure. This week, we will discuss the value of Townsend’s urban forest.
Value of Townsend Public Trees
In 1990, to assess the value and relative worth of city trees, individual trees were recorded by species, diameter at breast height (4½ feet above ground), and condition. To assess the value of trees in Townsend in 1990, a formula prepared by the International Society of Arboriculture was used: Tree Value = cross-sectional area x $27 x species class x condition class. In 1990, the value of the 336 public trees was estimated to be $250,000. In 2011 dollars, these trees' values, because of tree growth and inflation of the dollar over 21 years, would probably total over $1,000,000.
In 2005, the value of Townsend’s tree resource was not calculated. In 2011, the i-tree program was used to calculate the replacement value of Townsends’ public tree resource. The 1,001 trees inventoried in 2011 were valued at $2,500,000, even though over 125 large trees were removed as part of the 2005-2010 five-year tree care and maintenance plan.
In 2020, the TreeKeeper program was used to calculate the replacement value of Townsends’ public tree resource. The 1,093 trees inventoried in 2020 were valued at $2,164,000 even though over 52% of Townsend’s trees are less than 15 years old. This is an average price of $1,980 each.
Would you make an investment if you could make a 500% return in 5 years? If you buy a 1-inch diameter at breast height (4.5 feet above the ground) $75 tree today, in 5 years it will be a 2.5-3 inch diameter at breast height tree worth $375!
This past May working with the Broadwater High School (BHS) Horticulture Class, we discovered an 8-inch diameter Canada Red Chokecherry on the BHS campus with a co-dominant trunk that had split about 7 feet above the ground. The tree was planted by the BHS class of 1998 during their 10-year high school reunion in 2008. It was a 1-inch diameter at breast height tree when planted worth about $55 at the time. I estimated the 15-year-old tree to be worth about $2,000 today! Most people do not realize how much trees increase your property value.
The class discussed what could be done to save the tree. Removing half of the tree would have severely affected its appearance. It could not stand without some major intervention as the two trunks were obviously splitting and the half that would fail would have fallen on the school roof.
We decided to do surgery and bolt the two trunks together. This is a common practice used by arborists to save trees that have split if the tree is small enough to hold the weight.
The students drilled a one-half-inch hole through the two trunks with an auger bit (Photo 1) and we inserted a length of one-half inch all thread. Then we added a large washer and a one-half-inch nut to each end and tightened until the tree pulled together as much as possible. Then the excess length of all thread was cut off flush (Photo 2).
We saved the tree for less than $25 in materials! The Tree Board will still need to go back to the tree and try to reduce one of the co-dominant trunks to force the other to become dominant. Ideally, this could have all been avoided if this structural pruning had been done in the first 5 years of the tree’s life. Next week, we will discuss how Townsend’s public tree size and age classes have changed over 33 years.
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PhotoCredit: Pat Plantenberg
Image 1 Caption: referred to in the article as "Photo 1"
Image 2 Caption: referred to in the article as "Photo 2"
