Forestry board: keep ground cover

The Urban Forestry Board has instructed the City of Sisters to discontinue its current practice of removing all ground cover from public treed areas, such as behind the truck scales on the east end of town.

City Manager Andrew Gorayeb had directed the public works department to do the clearing using Deschutes County inmate work crews to create a cleaner look, to reduce fire danger from thrown cigarette butts, and to improve visibility of deer attempting to cross highways. The clearing extends 50 feet in from the edge of the road.

Urban Forestry chairman Dave Moyer, who is retired from 42 years with the U.S. Forest Service, elaborated on studies that showed such practices are bad for the health of the forests.

"When the ground under the trees is stripped of all vegetation and duff (tree needles, etc.), the healthy growth of trees is impeded due to lack of nutrients that come from the natural breakdown of those materials," Moyer explained.

He went on to note that removal of all natural vegetation such as rabbitbrush, bitterbrush and sagebrush eliminates important habitat for birds, butterflies, bees, and small animals. Lack of vegetation gives rise to erosion conditions with heavy rain as well as the infestation of invasive cheat grass, which takes over such cleared areas.

Because the health of all the trees on City property is under the purview of the Urban Forestry Board, what happens to the land around those trees is also under their advisement.

Recently contracted urban forester Dan Galecki discussed the scope of his work with the board at their June 10 meeting. His business is Spindrift Forestry Consulting in Bend. He received his degree in Wisconsin and has lived in Bend for eight years.

His first task will be to inventory and map all significant trees (eight inches and greater in diameter) on City property and right-of-ways in the downtown core and city parks in order to make a work plan and establish a budget for maintenance of the trees.

He will be noting particular attributes of the trees including their height, diameter, condition and species. The trees in the downtown core (Pine to Larch and Washington to Adams) were chosen first due to the amount of construction disturbance they have experienced recently and the number of people traveling through the core. The trees in the campground are particularly a matter of public safety, and he has already spent time assessing most of them.

Safety of people, structures and utilities is the number-one priority when assessing any given tree. For example, in the campground there are several "widow-makers" which need attention. A widow-maker is a tree that has some kind of debris sitting in it, like a weak or dead branch, loose limbs that are lying across healthy branches, wind breakage or a dead/diseased top. The entire tree is not removed, just the damaged or dangerous sections, to keep them from falling and injuring people or damaging structures.

Galecki will also make note of any trees that require pruning if they are impacting the vision of pedestrian or vehicular traffic or hanging low enough to be a hazard. Some pruning has been slated for the trees in front of City Hall.

There are several large junipers and ponderosas around town already slated for removal due to damage from disease or insect infestation. They will be removed as soon as possible.

The largest tree in the city, a ponderosa about 300 years old, is located in the campground near the dumpsters and is beginning to show signs of stress. Galecki indicated there is a bug epidemic starting due to the cycle of heat and drought currently being experienced. Trees that are in some way stressed are the ones that will be attacked by harmful insects.

Galecki indicated that one of his goals is to protect old-growth trees, but when signs of pitch and sawdust begin to appear, indicating insect infestation, action must be taken quickly to reduce hazards and to stem the spread to other trees.